Resident Evil: Evil Shadows
by Dark Glass Marionette
Summary: COMPLETE. After being reborn, Albert and William start over again. But as familiar people rise up and interfere in their new lives, evil shadows cast upon everyone, and start plotting against them. Will they find the truth about themselves?
1. Prologue: Rain

**Author's Note: **March 7th, 2009: From this day on, this story is officially rewritten. I have had in mind RE5's events, since I pretty much know a lot about the game, though it hasn't come out in Europe here yet xDDDD As by the ideas I have I might end up approaching the game's plot, I decided to rewrite this; another of the reasons was that I had too many mistakes that I've luckily corrected now.

**Summary:** AU/Canonical. After the events in Alaska, Albert and William start over again. But as familiar people rise up and interfere in their new lives, an evil shadow casts upon everyone, a shadow that has always been present in their lives, a shadow to which Albert feels strangely attached to. Will Albert and William find the truth about themselves? Will they make it out? (Contains slight Albert WeskerxOC).

I will keep updating this story with new chapters and rewritten ones.

**THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE GAME. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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**Prologue

Rain

_He ran down the __hall, his heart beating faster than ever. He jumped down five steps at once and almost tripped with his own foot. Knocks on the main door had reached his keen ear and he had the feeling it would be her who had returned. But when he opened the door, he saw a man standing under the rain, and her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her clothes stained with blood, her body burnt and she wasn't breathing: she was dead. _

_He wanted to scream, but no sound left his mouth__. Suddenly, the sound of alarmed voice filled the entrance hall and he was tossed aside. The boy hit the wall hard and fell down as tears rolled down his pale cheeks. 'Why?'_

'_WHY?!'_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(January 2nd, 2005)_

Albert slowly opened his eyes, and found himself in the same place as two weeks ago: the place he could somehow call home. Yet again, he tried to figure out what that event was trying to tell him, and he clenched his fist in anger seeing he still couldn't. Whenever it caught him off guard, that dream recurred to him, troubling him more than he was already.

He sat up on the bed, feeling his whole chest ache again, but he didn't care. When he did and looked to the front, he found William staring at him, his blue eyes shining with concern.

"Bad dreams again?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it now," replied Albert standing up, but pain now invaded his whole body. William went to help, but Albert stopped him, raising a hand. The pain slowly faded away, much to William's chagrin.

"Anything new about the Agency?" Albert asked then.

"No. I couldn't access with your data." Albert approached William, eyes fixed upon the screen. The monitor showed a screen with an alert message: **Access revoked.**

"Hm, I expected them to revoke my access, no surprise there. All the samples are safe in the Corporation's hands, but I wonder what they will do now that I'm gone."

"I suppose, by that, that you won't contact them, won't you?"

"No," replied Albert with a smirk, "I'll work alongside them and they won't even know. I'm almost done, though, so it won't be for long."

"Typical of you. Leaving this aside, tell me: how're you feeling?"

"I have to say that better than usual," replied Albert, sincere.

"Doesn't convince me."

"Believe what you want, but I wouldn't lie about this."

"Alright. Luckily, the scars don't hurt. But there's something bugging me."

"That is…?" asked Albert. William sighed, hesitating at first.

"Much to my chagrin, you've taken longer than expected to heal. Yes, our wounds were severe indeed and no viral agent could've modified something; there was _nothing _in us that could endanger it. But I took two days since we returned and you've taken two weeks! You spent too many days unconscious and it wasn't because of the lack of energy. You were out almost three days or more, time I took to intervene in your healing."

"I don't remember much about these last days, now that you mention it," said Albert stepping away and turning his back on William. He slightly turned his head around and looked at William through the corner of his eye. His brow was furrowed in concentration and his eyes closed; indeed, he was thinking until he came up with an answer.

"Really, I hope I haven't screwed up." Albert didn't say anything and turned his head away from him, engrossed in his thoughts. Then, he turned to face window. Albert only saw one thing.

Rain.


	2. Chapter 1: Collecting Data

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs

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1

Collecting Data.

Through the course of the month, both took it easy and Albert's full recovery was William's main focus. Luckily for them, there were no more problems, meaning that every virus agent had been discovered and destroyed. When the second week of February was drawing to an end, they began to work. They restlessly focused on finding out more about the GOD virus, and day and night they spent working on it, writing lengthy sheets of paper with different characteristics, ways of evolving, of reproducing itself and infecting its host and, most importantly, which genes it would reject and which it would adapt itself to. Unfortunately, William was doubtful with the little information he could obtain about its genetics, so he decided to leave that matter aside.

Albert, on his end, used the information inside his data disk to relate the GOD virus to the T and the NE-T viruses. He started a detailed research on both of the NE-T and the T-virus, despite he had worked a good long time on it. _There's always something else you can learn from going over it again,_ he said to himself. Using his and William's notes, he discovered that in spite of being variants, the NE-T had developed other features, making it much more different than the T, which was more 'primitive'.

"It can also depend on the subject's genes," said William when Albert set the problem out, "Remember what happened with Lisa? Her body absorbed every single virus we injected into her, just like it happened with Lynn as it seems. If the GOD virus consisted of two different viruses, both of them must've adapted to her genes and just like it happened with Lisa's mother, her body could fight off the effects, showing no signs of mutation. It makes sense in spite the little information we have on how it might affect people's genes."

"Interesting virus, this one. Have you found a way to duplicate it?" asked Albert.

"I'm still at it, but I'll see what I can do."

Albert stood up and walked to a safe that rested inside the closet. When Albert took opened it, he smiled. The data disk rested inside again and he took it out to keep searching, along with another one. _Let's see what we can fish this time._

"Things are not good on my end." Said William.

"Reason?"

"It's almost impossible to duplicate it. As it looks, both viruses work in a symbiotic way, and most strange of all, if we were to duplicate it, all fragments must have the same amount of cells of each virus so that they fuse together again to keep living. If one of the virus' cell numbers exceeds the other one's, the predominant one will end up destroying the other. It's impossible to determine how many cells will end up splitting up, so I think we'll just conserve this sample." William explained, turning his chair around. Albert frowned, _Another damper. At least, we have it,_ "Though I'll keep looking into the matter; maybe I come up with something else."

"Right. Meanwhile, I'll have a look at the Corporation's activities."

"Okay. I know you have something planned, so I won't say anything." Said William resuming his work. William them slightly raised his head before Albert turned his away and focused on his eyes, which William found different. He couldn't help it: William smiled weakly, feeling slight nostalgia. _Things were easy back then, but those times are in the past now…_, he thought looking through the sight again_, The effects of the GOD virus must've made the symptoms disappear… but I guess I'll see them soon enough. _

Albert laid the disk on the table. Instead of one, he had taken out two discs, the second one containing a specific program that would help him obtain information about the 'S' Corporation. When the program was executed, it acted on the IP address making it completely imperceptible. Albert had obtained it from one of his contacts almost three years ago and he had used it several times. When the program was executed successfully, Albert felt relieved and began exploring the net.

Fifteen minutes went by and the room was in complete silence, only slightly disturbed by Albert's typing. By the time they stopped, it was already night. William closed his notebook and sighed, running both hands through his hair. _I still have nothing… I wonder if Albert has. That'd be great._ He then stood up and when he looked at his reflection on the window, he was surprised by what he saw. William chuckled, making Albert turn his attention to him. Noticing Albert's curiosity, William smirked:

"I suppose you haven't seen yourself, haven't you?" he said, dropping a hint. Albert was slightly confused but he could see the changes William had seen in himself.

"I haven't seen myself, but you look like in your early twenties."

"That's what surprises me. Marcus must have taken the samples back in 1986 when Spencer mentioned it. You're in your mids, by the way." William said, "Oh, and speaking of changes," he added then, "there's something different about you now."

"Nothing wrong, I presume." Replied Albert with a tiny hint of concern.

"Not at all. Just look at your eyes." William finished turning his head away and looking through the window. When Albert looked at himself in a mirror behind the coat stand, he didn't find any other changes in his physical appearance aside from the eyes, which he then examined. He was surprised, but didn't show it. Instead of the crimson colour he remembered seeing, they had regained their blue colour they had more than ten years ago.

"Hm, looks like they only change when I mutate."

"That's something... I actually need to tell you about." William's expression suddenly changed, so did Albert's, who narrowed his eyes slightly. William was doubtful, but he soon came with another answer, "As GOD virus remnants altered your body, the effects of my virus have disappeared temporarily. Since your body remains still had it on its cells, you don't have to worry: you'll feel it again soon enough," William made a short pause, "I too have something else to tell you about that. Have a look at this."

Albert was apprehensive at first and watched William take a few folders from a drawer. He spread them across the table, and their labels surprised Albert as much as they had surprised William. Two folders… and they contained reports of their project.

"Where did you get this?"

"After the fight with Lynn, you ended up blacking out. As we were on the other side of the world with no proper medical equipment, I took you inside the facility and healed you there. To avoid waking you up, as you were in a very bad state, I sedated you and let you rest whilst the sedative worked. Meanwhile, I explored the research rooms and found these files, your project and mine. The notes inside are mine and Spencer's."

"Spencer's…"

"Yes, I actually cooperated with him to bring you back." As Albert read the files, he stumbled across a paragraph that surprised him too much.

"He recovered my remains from Raccoon city?" he exclaimed, looking at William.

"Yeah, he wanted you to be as exact as before, with no changes. Although, he used the Tyrant's bodies to improve and he made me make my virus again." William paused again, hurting: he was lying about the virus… and would keep lying.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Please, administrate this to Albert."__ Said Spencer, handling the vial to William._

"_But why, sir?"_

"_Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just an experimental virus."_

"_You're telling me not to worry if it's a virus? With all due respect sir, I have my reasons to believe that this will endanger Albert's life." William shot back. Spencer gazed straight into William's eyes, blunt and angry._

"_Don't question my orders, William. Give the vial to him."_

"_What should I say?" asked William, feeling he didn't have another choice, "I guess he'd be suspicious if I told him you gave me the vial." Spencer closed his eyes for a second and thought._

"_Tell him it's one of your concoctions. Tell him… you created it to help him." He replied, avoiding a smile to appear on his face. William frowned and sighed, his chest aching. Why lie to Albert? Spencer knew something. And William heard Albert's story._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

William knew perfectly, a secret he had kept to himself all of those years. It hurt him more than ever, but knew Albert shouldn't know about that. He continued to speak, "Spencer told me he wanted it for his other experiments, so I just created one sample and administered it to you while you were still… in development; that's why you keep your superhuman abilities. I didn't know what he would do with it, and I certainly wasn't going to let him get his hands on it for his own benefit." Much to his surprise, Albert seemed to buy it.

_An arrogant fool, that's what Spencer is. He won't get his hands on me again_, Albert thought, his despise for Spencer growing. He was going to make him pay: he would find him and kill him. Spencer had escaped Alaska, but Albert would find him, wherever he was now. The reason he knew… Albert couldn't actually describe it; he only had the feeling he was somehow attached to him, not just because of his project. Whatever it was, it gnawed at him constantly.

"I'm sorry, but I felt you had to know."

"You've done well letting me know," Albert replied, noticing William's concerned expression, "There's no need to worry." Albert had a quick look at William's project's file, and found out that out of the G-virus sample HUNK had recovered for Umbrella, Spencer had retrieved William's cells and, combining his DNA with the Tyrant's body, he was revived again, similarly as he had.

William sighed and lowered his head. Today had been a happy day for him nineteen years ago, and it now was a nasty one. Only knowing the date made a wave of memories come back to his head. He felt Albert's gaze upon him, questioning.

"Do you remember what happened today nineteen years ago?" asked William.

"I can't recall." Replied Albert, frowning slightly. William sighed again and his chest shrank just thinking about it.

"Today… I married Annette."


	3. Chapter 2: Clues

2

Clues

"Sir, we got their signals. The tracking devices have been activated."

"Alright. They're not going to get away so easily this time. And the good thing is… that they don't even know."

"They'll find out… eventually. Prepare for when the moment arrives." Said a soft, low voice. And he laughed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(February 17__th__)_

"Okay, let's move on to the next…" William said to himself. The next file he was examining for the second time was the one on 'Plant 43' or the Ivy. There was little information to his surprise, but enough for him. Why looking again at Umbrella's files? William had the feeling he would find something interesting about the B. developed in there, although he already knew about them from his years in the company. However, due to the matter with the GOD virus, he had to retrieve information to see if he could actually do something about his duplication process.

The document contained an image of the Ivy and one short paragraph, that read as followed:

'_The Ivy, or officially named "Plant 43", is the result of several experiments to create a more sophisticated version of the Plant 42, which it was based on. They are bipedal green plants with arm-like vines and a large orange flower for a 'head'. They were created by copying DNA taken from Plant 42.'_

_Yeah, I already know all of this_, he thought, beginning to lose patience. William was about to open another file when something of the photo called his attention: a little white stain on the lower right corner. William enlarged the photograph and his face changed to a mask of surprise.

_Now this is unexpected… And what the heck a yellow iris doing in the background? Looks like a whole set of those plants. Hm… __**'Taken at RBI'**_ _We got a new lead._

"Let's see what this stands for."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert cut off from his reading and rubbed his eyes, trying to relax. By some informant, the 'S' knew about his 'unfortunate demise' in May, as they had stated it, and had proceeded to delete all information about him, as if he had never existed. _It is time to abandon this corporation. We're on our own now, God knows for how long_, he thought. And to his displeasure, the samples were in their hands. _No, wait! My secret laboratory! I have duplicates in there! Why haven't I thought of that before? I'll sure have a way of retrieving them, _Albert thought then, a short smile spreading across his face. Albert stood up and gathered all the papers in one stack, which he left inside a drawer. He looked at his left. There, beside the window, there was a low table with, like it seemed, a photo lying upside down. Curious about it, Albert went to examine it, also with slight apprehension.

There was a girl in the photo, a bit younger than him. She had curly brown hair that reached her shoulders, and a long wavy fringe bent above her left eye. Her eyes, gleaming with obvious happiness, were of a light brown colour. She was winking at the camera and had a huge grin on her beautiful face. But that wasn't who Albert was focusing on. The girl had one of her arms linked to somebody else's.

That someone was himself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_But when he opened the door, he saw a man standing under the rain, and her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her clothes stained with blood, her body burnt and she wasn't breathing: she was dead. _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albert felt his hand shaking. He abruptly turned away and closed his eyes, feeling the photograph fall beside his feet. Albert clenched his fist in anger, feeling memories flash in his mind, memories being dug up again. _Who is she? Why is she so familiar?!_, he asked himself, demanding an answer but he couldn't give it.

"Albert, could you come here for a sec?" asked William from the other room. Albert gasped unconsciously and quickly calmed down. Albert walked inside and found William with a smirk on his face.

"That smile means…"

"Good news, you got it." Finished William.

"So, what do you have?" asked Albert placing himself next to his friend. William rapidly opened a document with all the information he gathered about RBI, the initials that stood for something Albert would soon know and would find interesting.

"RBI, or 'Ribbon Biological Industries'. A company founded in the 60s, much earlier than Umbrella. Speciality: research with plants. At first it focused on creating medicines and anti-viruses, but they soon reached a dead end."

"Looks like weaponry wasn't their style this time." Remarked Albert, becoming more interested by the second.

"Not this time indeed. Well look at this, they were the ones who provided Umbrella with plants for the 'Plant 43' project. And this photograph," continued William as he opened it and showed it to Albert, "was taken at RBI."

"How come they had a mutated specimen?" asked Albert.

"That's something I don't know. If they were related to Umbrella, maybe they asked them for a T-virus sample and tested it in their labs, who knows? It could be that Umbrella wanted RBI to experiment first to see if they succeeded."

"Do you know who runs the company?" inquired Albert.

"No, but I have found the name of one of its best researchers. Let me see… oh, here it is. Her name is Joanne Dawson. August 10th, 1962, granddaughter of the company's founder."

Albert clenched his fist again, unable to find an answer to his questions: why was she so familiar? Her name, the photograph… why was he with her? How was she related to him? Trying to get those matters out of his mind, Albert focused again on the topic being discussed.

"Looks interesting. If we manage to pull the strings ourselves, we will have achieved something big, and our goal will be closer. Besides, not always animals and humans are used to create B., don't you think?"

"Indeed not," replied William as he sighed and stood up, "The main facility is in London, the second most important in Zurich, where she is right now. Which one will you go to?" Albert this time gave out a short, mischievous smile, "I really don't like this," said William.

"Actually, it will be _you_ who'll visit the company." William jumped in surprise although he had seen it coming.

"What?! No way!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dr. Dawson!"

Joanne turned around and saw her fellow researcher, Nicky, running towards her.

"What is it, Nicky?" Joanne asked, trying to hide her sleepiness.

"Everything's going just as planned! The ointment is restoring damaged tissue, and it takes no longer than thirty minutes!" explained the blond. Joanne raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Good work, Nicky. Keep testing it, we don't want to be deceived now, don't we?" she said. Nicky nodded and left the greenhouse, leaving Joanne alone between the plants. The same moment Nicky left, the smile vanished from Joanne's face, revealing her sad and tired expression again. _We're not going anywhere with this. I've always wanted to help people, not kill them! I just hate having to bear with my grandfather's burden. I know the experiment will be banned; this is all in vain. RBI, part of the group… why can't we separate from them?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No, no, no, no, no! I can't do that! You know me better than anyone else in this world, and you know I won't be able to do it! I've never been good in social relationships! Finding data on my own is fine, but having to get along well with the researchers to get it out of them? I find that impossible for me." William burst out looking at Albert with worried eyes.

"William, you didn't have any problem in coming up and saying 'hi' to me." _And you didn't have any problem with Annette either_, he had wanted to say, but he didn't, _I don't want him to grieve again, not after yesterday. _

"Damn it, Albert, you're different!"

"Come on, you're gonna back away now?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm really nervous."

Albert rolled his eyes and sighed, "No need to tell me, William."

"Guess I have no choice but to do it. Sorry about that." Said William with a nervous smile. Albert only stood up and walked to the door, taking his black trench coat on the way.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, probably thirty." He said as he put it on. William raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll explain later, I'm in a hurry." Albert replied, and he disappeared through the door. William shrugged and turned around. As he did, a question appeared into his mind, a question Albert would have to answer sincerely.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert walked as fast as he could through the crowd in a cold February afternoon. His mind was completely blank: he didn't think about anything else than remembering the way to the specific warehouse. He quickly turned left and followed down a dark alley until he reached a wide open space, completely lit by the sun's rays, with two warehouses, each one old enough to say they were twenty years old. Their windows were broken, the paint had come off and their roofs were pierced on some spots. Albert sighed and he went inside the one on his left, raising a big cloud of dust when he opened the metal doors, which emitted a low creaking that bothered Albert to the extreme. Inside, he found just what he was looking for: a small trapdoor.

He climbed it down, and soon found himself engulfed by darkness. His eyes slowly became used to it and there were red lights lighting the hall. Smiling, he crossed it, his eyes gleaming with thrill, his fist clenching in victory. Next to the seat he had taken for quite long, Albert found a metal attaché case, which looked eerie when it received the light's crimson rays. Another wave of excitement struck Albert and his evil smile widened. He gripped the case's handle, feeling the cold metal through his gloves, and he left the room behind, a place he'd soon have to forget about. As he headed for the warehouse exit, he couldn't help himself.

An evil laugh echoed through the old building.


	4. Chapter 3: Ribbon Biological Industries

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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3

Ribbon Biological Industries

William turned around in the same moment he heard the knob turn, and Albert appeared on its other side with a metal case in his left hand. Albert entered and placed the case next to the computer table, trying to suppress a smile.

"Have a look at it if you want." He said taking off his coat. William took it, and he gaped at its contents the same moment he opened it. Inside, nicely placed, there was a big collection of virus samples, like T-virus and G-virus samples, aside from others William couldn't recognise. _Ha, I remember I gave him a G-virus sample. Good thing he's kept it._

"Wow! How did you get all of these other samples?" he asked, impressed.

"I went collecting samples throughout my… little 'adventures'." Replied Albert, leaning against the wall, "I collected the T-Veronica virus back in my days with the Agency. We recovered the body of a boy who was infected with it… Ah, I wonder what they will do with him, so many things I'm leaving undone." He said with a hint of annoyance and turning away his gaze.

"You've been travelling round the world, have you? Okay… this can help us to negotiate with RBI. I'll duplicate every sample I can and have it ready for when we get there," said William, and he picked up the T-Veronica sample, "Though you'll need to tell me about this one. I don't want to screw up when I work with it."

"If you want me to be sincere with you, I'm not very aware of its capabilities. One fact that I know is that it allows you to make your blood combustible." Albert said. _Charming girl, Alexia,_ he thought with sarcasm.

"Well, that's not very good, but I'll do it as well as I can," said William with a sigh as he laid down the vial, "One thing: if you want me to do some undercover work for you, it's going to take long. I'll do my best to duplicate the samples but have in mind that if you want all the data RBI has, I'll have to stick around for a good while. You don't want them to suspect me, I assume."

"Indeed I don't. Help them as much as you can, but certainly not improving their capabilities."

"Whoa, not that you're asking too much but I'm not good at playing dumb when I'm at work, and you know that." William quickly chimed in.

"Focus mainly on the T-Veronica." Albert said. William raised an eyebrow.

"How come?"

"We can use it as our little tool for negotiation. If RBI seems promising, they might as well experiment with it, thus letting us know of its capabilities. Once we have the information, if everything turns out alright…"

"I see where you're getting at: we'll use it for our interests. I'd better get to it right this instant. Oh, and can I ask you a favour?"

Albert raised an eyebrow, "And that is?"

"Do _not_ book the flight for tomorrow."

"Why not?"

"I assure you that I'll fall asleep. For the sample to be a good one, I'll take long, and I do need my sleep, too."

Albert could not avoid smiling to his remark, "The day after tomorrow then. Settled, going for Zurich."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanne entered her office, completely weighed down by all problems in RBI. She wasn't the complaining type, but that time was truly overwhelming. She had a hunch that the project Nicky told her was going to be cancelled, but she really couldn't back away now that they had made such progress. Joanne took the folder with all the files on the experiments they were running, sat at her desk and started going through them for the hundredth time. Several experiments were being conducted, most of them focusing on plants, which were used to produce ointments, pills and injections, all for medical purposes. The company was going really well thanks to their successfulness, but something nagged Joanne: they were being pressured even more than before.

She looked at the file of the healing ointment, the experiment Nicky told her about. There were photographs enclosed with the reports, photographs that showed incredible results. A thirty centimetre long and one centimetre wide gash had been inflicted in a patient with a high dose of morphine and, when the ointment had been applied on the wound, it had instantly started closing and, as Nicky said, it hadn't even taken more than twenty minutes. If it were on the market, the company would receive a great profit, which meant funds for future experiments.

Joanne knew perfectly about the company she had inherited. Although she wasn't the one in charge of it, the whole company was her responsibility. She remembered that, when she was twenty-four, she personally met James Marcus, who had that day come to RBI to revise her father's progress with the company. At that time, Joanne was still being instructed in biology. That day, she learned about the T-virus and its properties.

When she inherited the company at the age of 28, she discovered that the T-virus had been used as a weapon by Umbrella and, trying to turn the tables, they started using it for medical purposes. Everything went good through the years until 1998 when, after the Raccoon City incident, Umbrella's fortunes failed to improve, causing an impact on RBI's funds. Slowly but surely, thanks to RBI's wide stock, the company was able to overcome difficulties.

But as of two years ago, a new entity started putting pressure on them. Joanne didn't know their reasons or objectives, but they menaced her with stealing all of the company's funds and make it plummet if she didn't agree to work for them. RBI was now a clandestine company, a company that had 'disappeared' completely and was working for someone else. Working on B.. In the last few months, RBI had sent them a few specimens of mutated plants, though the experiments weren't complete, as they had requested.

Joanne left the files aside and clenched one of her fist as she slammed the other on her table, greatly distressed. _Shit! I can't refuse to cooperate with them… but I can't stand seeing people die because of me! _

_I can't let his company disappear, that'd be too embarrassing for my grandfather, but what if it's the best thing to do? I can't put my life in danger; certainly he wouldn't want me to. I guess I should continue working, we'll see how next week's meeting turns out. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Flight booked and everything ready, Albert decided taking a short break. To his relief, he had found all the information he was looking for, though he was somewhat worried about everything that was going on. It was too precarious to work with two whole companies on his back, although one of them wasn't worrying much about him. Yet he had everything he needed at his disposal and it was just a matter of time till RBI was his. He now wondered how would William be doing, but he decided to leave his mind blank.

Albert walked to his bed and let himself fall on it, feeling exhausted. His blue eyes, now uncovered, fixed upon the ceiling. Those moments of inertia made him realise there was something else bothering him and, to his own surprise, he didn't pay attention to it, and he soon fell asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'_Damn it, why didn't you kill them when you had the chance?'_

Rachel clutched the sheets in her sleep, tossing and turning violently in her bed. Beads of cold sweat dripped down her temples, her head throbbed in almost unbearable pain; she wanted to wake up, but she wasn't allowed to.

'_Why didn't you avenge your brother? You had his assassin right in front of your eyes!'_

_--------------------------------------_

Rachel opened her eyes, but she found out she wasn't in her room. She was engulfed by darkness, unable to distinguish anything, only the voice that kept haunting her.

"_I couldn't do it!"_ Rachel replied out loud, her voice echoing in the abyss.

'_Yes, you could, you stupid woman! You could've let me out!'_ the voice shouted back. Unable to stand it, Rachel screamed and gripped her head with both hands, trembling in pain and despair.

_Ed… I'm sorry, Ed. I'm… I'm just too weak!_, she thought, starting to cry. She wanted revenge, but last time she couldn't get it. She had been weak, but how to trust her other self if it was a killer being? She could easily lose control and end up killing her friends, everyone who stood in her way. Rachel did not know what to do.

Suddenly, she felt like a hand on her shoulder, warm and reassuring, and a voice whispering on her ear: it was her own, but with a slight change. It was darker, eviller and blood-thirsty, _'I can help you…'_

'_If you trust me.'_

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Rachel woke up feeling better to her surprise and sat up in her bed, noticing blood on her palm. Suddenly, she looked to the door and Jack entered the room, a short smile on his pale face.

"So you've woken up. Feeling better?" he asked kindly. Rachel didn't answer at first, afraid that her other self might come out. _'I won't, don't worry. Talk to him. You don't wanna hurt your boyfriend, don't you?'_ It told her.

"Yeah, I'm much better," replied Rachel faking a smile and closing her hand to make the blood go unnoticed. Jack's smile grew wider and he spoke:

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I need to get going. Wanna meet at three at the café?"

"Sure. I'll see you there," answered Rachel.

"Okay, bye hon." And Jack left the room, leaving Rachel alone. At first, she didn't move and stayed sitting, her gaze fixed upon the door. Then, she went to a mirror and stood before it, staring at her reflection. Like somebody next to her, Rachel felt her other self lean its back against hers.

'_He's reaaally cute, you know,' _it said with a sigh. Rachel frowned in annoyance, but didn't say anything. _'Say,'_ it continued, _'Are you going to accept my help or not?'_

"Tell me I'm not hallucinating." Said Rachel, evading its question.

'_You, hallucinating? Bah, I didn't know you didn't believe in the existence of two beings living inside the same body. I am another part of you, a part that existed with you even before you were captured. Remember the time you killed all those scientists and left Richards alive? You killed them because I was the one on the outside; you then told me to let Richards alive because he wasn't guilty of it. I complied to make you happy. Ha, you were so sweet and innocent I laughed in your face._

_But you really dominated me that time. The time you first mutated last year… you were a difficult one to beat. But then, you came to your senses again. Since then, I've watched you live, as if it was a movie. You experienced everything a human experiences and, luckily for you, I was forgotten. Or maybe you weren't so lucky: my anger grew by moments, you didn't like me. We were… how to put it…'_

"Incompatible?" added Rachel without moving.

'_Yes, incompatible. And when you had Wesker in front of you and you didn't do anything, that was the last straw. I couldn't take it anymore and I struggled to come out. I just didn't understand: how could you hate them so much and not kill them, spill blood, see their bodies lying on the floor covered in blood with a hole piercing their chests?'_

"Because of that!" shouted Rachel, "Because your thirst for blood is untameable and, once I let you out, you'll do whatever you can to stay outside, to destroy me and continue killing everyone that gets in your way. You'd kill Jack, you'd kill-"

'_That Leon guy? To tell the truth, I would kill him if he got in my way, but I guess you don't want that. Your, no, _**our**_primary objective is to kill Wesker and Birkin and to avenge your brother. Hate is the feeling that guides me, my hate for you. That's what drives me to kill so that, one day, I can get something spiky and pierce your body. Normal suicide, the press would say. But that wouldn't be too good, I'd die along with you. I'm coexisting with you and now, I'm going to be the predominant being. _

_I'm going to give you till three to decide what to do… and you should pick the right choice. If you choose correctly, you'd better stay away from Jack.'_

Rachel gasped in horror and her other self vanished, making itself unable to contact. She didn't have a choice: she'd have to let it come out. But the other Rachel was correct: she hated them with all her strength, she wanted to see them die, she wanted them to disappear from her life. That way, she would avenge her brother, but what to do once that was done? Maybe Rachel wouldn't be able to control her, and everyone she knew would be in danger.

But she had to do it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(February 18__th__)_

"God, this has taken long, but it was worth it," sighed William as he looked at the four vials containing perfectly duplicated T-Veronica virus. He looked at his watch. 6 AM, "Whoa, and took long indeed." _It's really bugging me the fact that Umbrella and RBI might've been related… _he thought as he frowned.

William, after tidying everything, went to the couch and lay there, feeling proud of his work. As he remembered something, he quickly stood up and headed to Albert's room, of which the door was half-open. William opened it just a bit and saw Albert lying on his bed, eyes wide open and clearly awake. He backed away and returned to the couch, feeling uneasiness cloud his mind. _I wonder when I'll be able to ask him._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Wow! You're heavy now, aren't you?" he said raising the little kid and sitting her on his neck. Next to him, Annette smiled and the family entered the park. Their child smiled and giggled whenever she saw an animal walking around, pleased with the excursion. William and Annette couldn't ask for more._

"_Hey, look ….."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

William frowned, estranged. _That year was 1988, her birthday. I was with Annette and… and who? Why can't I remember that children's name? _He turned to lie on his side, feeling very tired all of a sudden. Not to remember made William depressed, especially when it was something important to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Two days later…**

_(February 20__th__)_

The day was sunny with a thin layer of clouds covering the sky. William walked through the pavement with an attaché case in his hand, his footsteps crunching in the snow. He instinctively looked back but found himself alone. _Darn it, why does he have to be so far from here? Anyway…_

After showing his ID card to the guard, he was let in and he was surprised by the sight. He was inside a big room, like a waiting room, with a few small armchairs arranged in a circle with a little table in the centre.

William slowly walked in, forgetting about the case's weight and smiled shortly. _Nice way to cover up the facility_, he thought. Then, a voice came from his left.

"I believe you are Dr. William Birkin, right?" asked a woman as she entered the room. She was wearing the typical white lab coat over her uniform; her hair was tied up into a ponytail and her brown eyes hid apprehension with cordiality.

"Indeed. And I believe you are Dr. Kimberly Heap?" William replied as cordially as her and stretching out his free hand. Kimberly smiled and shook it, apparently easing up a bit.

"So, let me take you down to our facility. Welcome to RBI, Mr. Birkin."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert couldn't help giving out a wide and evil smile. He was fully aware of the conversation thanks to a tiny microphone in William's shirt's collar, and he could feel everything going smoothly. _Though I know I can't trust the situation yet, I'm already imagining myself with the data_, he thought, and he then chuckled, _I'd better relax and calm down if I don't want to lose my patience. We're one step closer now._


	5. Chapter 4: Adaptation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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4

Adaptation

As Kimberly and William entered the elevator and she pushed the button to the lower levels, William started relaxing. Introductions successful; now the only thing he needed to do was to pretend to be the typical newbie which got right out of university. His heart raced in his chest; not because of nervousness (though he had his share) but of thrill.

"Say, Mr. Birkin, have you been working in another facility before joining us?" asked Heap, showing curiosity. A knot instantly appeared in William's stomach.

"No, I haven't," he replied slightly nervous again. _That question has a deeper meaning, I'm sure, _he thought, avoiding a frown, "May I know why do you ask?" he added with politeness.

Kimberly shrugged, "Hm, it was just out of curiosity. A lot of people have joined us after working somewhere else and they've found it difficult to adapt. Though I guess you won't have that problem," she smiled then. William smiled too when Kimberly's eyes moved to him, but he was now somewhat suspicious of her. Then, they both heard the ring of the elevator. When the doors opened, a hot ambient received them, and William could not stifle a gasp in surprise.

They were in a big greenhouse, full of different plants arranged in large groups of flowerpots, lit by artificial dim light. They all showed no signs of being manipulated with and everything was clarified when Kimberly spoke:

"This is the greenhouse where we keep plants that are in development. We've all grown them ourselves."

"Amazing growth rate. Do you, per chance, use some kind of accelerator?"

"We do, indeed, though little portions of it. We don't want to have a killer plant around here," Kimberly smiled again, "Since some take quite a long time to grow and there are new products in demand, we need to have them ready as soon as possible." William examined all of the plants as the walked through the central aisle. When Kimberly was about to turn right, something called William's attention. At the end of the flowerpot group beside him, there were plants very familiar to him: yellow irises. _There we have 'em! Yellow irises, aka 'Plant 43's, _he thought, almost smirking.

"Surprised, are we?" chuckled Kimberly. William adopted again a smiling countenance and followed the researcher. _I'll hand it to her, she knows how to joke._ Kimberly opened another door and they found themselves in an aisle. At each side of it, there were three doors leading to, what William assumed, research rooms. To their left, there was another elevator.

"This aisle, the upper and the lower are dedicated to plant research. You might be assigned to the lower levels, though we'll have to see."

"Does the classification depend on experience?"

"Not necessarily. In here, we expertise in numerous and different fields. It doesn't matter whether you know about this or the other; what matters is that you can work with us knowing exactly what the matter is. That is what we first observe in trainees; then, as we watch their progress, they are assigned to different levels and researches. As you might assume…"

"I'll be under 'continuous assessment', right?" William finished for her as the walked through the hall. Kimberly nodded.

"You'll be introduced to your team in an hour. We need to make the proper arrangements first." She concluded, "If you want, you can have a more detailed look at the greenhouse or the specimen room at its left."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to." Replied William. Then, Heap left and William took the opposite direction, heading to the greenhouse.

_-Accelerators… that sounds interesting_, Albert's voice sounded in William's head.

_-Might be ones they've developed._

_-Or even T-virus, though we don't know for sure yet. Also, who would be supplying it? Plants able to stand medium mutation and the little amounts of accelerator… those concepts make sense. They surely wouldn't want to keep a killer plant in there. _

_-Don't know why it reminds me of 42…_

_-Keep going into the matter. Oh, and try to find that Joanne Dawson, but make it appear casual_, asked Albert.

_-Right._

William opened the door, appearing again in the greenhouse. There, he found a woman kneeling in front of some flowers, gently touching one's petals. Then, she stood up and kept looking at them whilst William had a look at the newest ones, not making a sound. But when she turned her head, the woman jumped, gasping, which gave William a slight startle.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He said as she calmed down. Her ID card hung from her neck and, surprisingly, it was who he was looking for: Joanne Dawson. Judging by her features, she was a woman in her early forties, though she seemed to be a bit younger; tall and thin. Her visible eye, her left one, was of a light brown colour; the other was covered by her wavy, brown fringe. _Wow, speak of casual,_ thought William.

"Oh, it's okay." She replied slightly stroking her fringe, "I believe you're William Birkin, is that right?" she asked then.

"Yeah, a pleasure." He replied, shaking hands with her. Joanne eyed William discreetly. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"Same here. I'm Joanne Dawson."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Bingo! There we go,_ thought Albert as Joanne's voice sounded through the speaker and filled the van, _He was lucky. Okay, let's get on with it. And speak of casual…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I was wondering if we could talk just a moment before I get to work. Are you busy now?" asked William, getting to the point.

"No. Accompany me to my office." Replied Joanne. William did as he was told and he followed Joanne through a door. As they appeared in another room, William looked to his right and something caught his attention: a door had a sign which read '**Authorised personnel only'**. _More interesting things… shall I break the rules some time?_

They went up a set of stairs, crossed a hall and again climbed another set of stairs, until Joanne stopped in front of her office's door and turned the handle. William followed her as she entered and expressed his surprise when he saw the greenhouse through the window. Joanne's office wasn't something out of the ordinary; in fact, William instantly could tell she was not a very tidy woman. There were stacks of paper here and there, notes and drafted documents lay across a small table and biology books were correctly placed in their shelf.

"I'm sorry for the mess," she said with a nervous laugh as she collected papers from her desk. William couldn't avoid a smile. _I remember my office was like this from time to time_, he thought. Joanne sat on her chair across him and motioned William to do the same, and he complied, "So, what did you want to tell me?" Joanne asked.

"I bring a new substance that has been recently discovered. I wondered if you might be interested in starting a new research on it. Considering how well you fare, it would be an interesting path to take." William explained as convincing as he could.

Joanne thought carefully. It indeed sounded interesting and it would be appropriate for the company. What if they could make beneficial substances out of it and use them in their products? Joanne's heart lightened up with hope just thinking about it, but she soon realised there was one problem: maybe the project would be cancelled. But why not make it clandestine? Joanne liked the idea, in spite it was against the rules. It would be fair assigning the research to William; in the meantime, it'd be Kimberly who'd be in charge, though.

"I agree with you, and maybe we can make some profit out of it. Do you mind if I have a look at it?" she asked. William almost frowned, which was kind of hard to avoid.

_-Give it a go. Who knows, maybe they assign you the research, William,_ Albert chimed in.

_-I sometimes fear giving things a try. Maybe they do and I'll be freer to wander around._

William heard Albert chuckle. _ –That'll be the best for us._

William took a deep breath. _-Here goes._

He nodded at Joanne's request and took out the sample from the case. Joanne turned around and patiently examined it.

"I might take a short while." She said.

William shrugged, "No problem."

_-And no problem indeed,_ he said,_ I'll carefully go through her reports on the table. I'll see if I can find something._

_-As stealthily as you can_, Albert replied, patiently.

William slightly rose from his chair and looked at the sheets in detail, trying not to miss anything. He found information about the experiments conducted over the last weeks, as well about Nicky's research, something he found interesting. _Experiments with plants, huh? And that involves the growth accelerator… It's interesting, but it doesn't get us anywhere if there's not any information about it._ He was about to give up and sit back when he found something. At the right corner of one of the sheets, there were three capital letters written blurrily, though William could tell they were not 'RBI'. _Damn it! I'd make too much noise if I took it. And maybe it's confidential; I'd really hate to blow up my cover_, he thought annoyed.

While William was snooping through Joanne's files, she was examining the sample with great care. It was an interesting substance, but there was something wrong with it. Its structure was very familiar, though Joanne couldn't say why. Despite that, she made her decision: she'd accept William's offer.

"It looks wonderful to experiment with," she told him as she turned around. William quickly sat back without a sound and calmed down, "I accept, though it'll have to wait due to work reasons."

_-I can't believe she bought it! Great!_, William exclaimed, hiding his enthusiasm to Joanne.

_-Cool it, boy,_ intervened Albert almost smiling, _Excellent work. You'll do this more often, I think. _

_-Won't you give it a shot? You're good negotiating too,_ William teased, evoking a few memories in Albert's mind.

_-Knock it off._

"Sure, no problem. Meanwhile, I'll get used to this." William replied. Joanne gave out a half-smile, "And speaking of which," he added, "I guess I should be going now. I was told I'd meet my team soon."

"Okay," Joanne said as William stood up; she imitated him, "I wish you good luck."

"Thanks." He replied leaving the office. _It's only noon and it's like I've been here the whole day… This is getting to me_, thought Joanne. Then, she unconsciously looked at a small leather bracelet on her right wrist and a knot formed in her stomach. _I miss those days… though they're over now._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

No regrets, that's what she thought. The decision Rachel made two days ago had at first been a hard blow for her but now that she saw her reasons, she wouldn't have to worry.

-----------------------------------

_Rachel packed her bag with her necessary things as if in trance, letting nothing disturb her. When she finished, she read the note she had written for Jack for the third time, completely impassive. It was for his and her own good she was leaving. It wasn't a very good plan to leave without saying anything, but she couldn't let her other self come out in his presence. Taking her bag with her, Rachel left it next to the radio they had in the kitchen, the place he'd first have in sight. Without anything else, not a signal, not a missing object, she left. _

_-----------------------------------_

It was almost three in the afternoon and Rachel was deliberately walking on the opposite side of the same street the café Jack mentioned was. She was tempted to see him one last time and when she looked to her left, at the end of her gaze was Jack, sitting on a chair on the other side of the glass. There was happiness on his face, happiness she'd erase soon enough.

"_Quit daydreaming, will ya? I guess you haven't forgotten you have a job to do." _The voice nagged her. Rachel grunted in annoyance and ventured down the street again, leaving everything behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William returned to the greenhouse and, as there was nobody there, he took a moment to speak with Albert.

_-I got something of interest._

_-Go ahead, tell me,_ he replied.

_-As I snooped through Joanne's files, I've found an interesting report. I didn't take it, though, as it'd make too much noise. They have been supplying somebody else with something, or it might be vice versa. At the top right corner, three capital letters were written, but they were blurry, though not blurry enough to tell the initials were not 'RBI'. Ring any bells?_

_-Not the initials, alright, _said Albert, _three initials… I'd lie if I said it was familiar. Well, at least you got something._

_-Could be object that was being supplied the growth accelerator?_

_-It could be but if it was T-virus, it'd be on the contrary: RBI has been receiving supplies of it,_ Albert replied, _I-_, he instantly cut himself, realising.

_-Albert?,_ called William.

_-I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We've received news that they're there, sir. In the Zurich RBI facility."

"Switching sides again, aren't we, Wesker?" he said to himself, "That bastard… Do me the favour of preparing the best team you have. Make sure they're good, but few. And take five mutated hounds, alright? We might have to deal with her."

Suddenly, his phone rang and he picked it up instantly.

"Yes?" he said. As he listened to his contact's words, a scowl appeared on his face, "We'll take care of it, thanks." And he hung up. _This is getting out of hand. Knowing them, it must be-_ He suddenly realised, _Fuck! Truly getting out of hand! _

"Sir?"

"Send the team right away. I want no delays, and tell them to wait for my signal when they get there." He ordered with anger in his voice.

"Yes, sir." He frowned as he clenched his fists.

"We're taking her out."


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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5

Meeting day

_(February 20th, 2005. 23:44)_

The day had gone by at its normal pace. After the talk with Joanne, William had been introduced to his group. Surprisingly, including William, they were only four people: two women and a man. And also surprisingly for him, nerves hadn't interfered and he coped well with his partners and with his work. He had seen Joanne a few times throughout the day and, every time he saw her, Joanne's right side of her face was hid by her hair.

That night, William had stayed till late in the night in the computer room of the lower level. Carla, one of his partners, was with him too, something that nagged William completely. Not that she was annoying, no, but it didn't allow him to do his _job_. He hated making Albert wait more than anything else, though he knew he was a man of patience.

"Hello?" Carla's voice called, bringing him back to reality. William gasped and turned his head to her, and he found her smiling.

"I'm sorry, you were saying?" asked William. Carla giggled.

"I'm gonna be leaving now, okay? Will you activate the alarm?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Replied William. With that, Carla left and he couldn't avoid a lopsided, mischievous smile. _Here's my cue, _he thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert thanked feeling the cold night air around him, pure and relaxing. Just like the night two days ago, he left his mind completely blank and stared at the snow at his feet as he sat down in the rear of the van.

_-Hey, are you busy?_, William's voice made him snap out of his inertia.

_-No, you just got me free. What is it? _

_-I have the facility just for me. You might as well get ready for when I disable the firewalls_.

Albert jolted up from his seat and went to William's laptop, getting ready for the task. _-Working overtime?_, he teased.

_-Kinda, and I'm sleepy as hell, but I can pull this one out_, William replied, _Man, it's complicated! Albert, I'll need a code to disable the firewall system. In one of the hard drives of my laptop there should be a key generator program. Let me check the IP address... right there._

Albert typed it in when the program was executed and, in a matter of seconds, the key was generated. And so William typed it in as Albert told him the numbers, and he heard a low _beep_.

_-Okay, firewall disabled. Try and log in to the server with my second account. _

Albert gave it a try, and the reply was prompt: he was in.

_-I'm in, completely invisible. Let's do some fishing. And, William, do you have something to pick the lock on Joanne's office?,_ asked Albert.

_-Not right now, but I can fetch some wire from the greenhouse. Oh, I see where you're getting at, I'll get there right away_, smiled William taking the elevator to the main floor. Once there, he headed briskly to Joanne's office after retrieving a small piece of wire. In a couple of minutes, he was in front of Joanne's door, picking the lock.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert quickly examined the files, not missing any detail. As he did and didn't expect to find, there were files about 'Plant 43', which he carefully read. He soon discovered William's predictions were right: RBI and Umbrella had been working together since late 1978, and one of their first projects was the 'Plant 43' one. Albert built the whole situation in his head, fact that made him agree with William: the T-virus had been first tested in those plants and the first 43 specimen was bred at RBI, soon shipped to the Arklay Facility.

_This gets us somewhere. Now we completely know that growth accelerator is T-virus; yet again, we don't know who's been supplying it for certain. I truly have a hunch, however. _

On a side section, which he explored with curiosity, he found copies of supply reports. Every six months, RBI received one T-virus shipment containing almost a hundred samples of it, and the oldest was from 2003. Much to his chagrin, he still didn't find the supplier. _Joanne might have original copies in her office,_ Albert told himself, _Maybe William manages to-_

_-Good luck!_, his friend instantly intervened, _I've managed to open the door. Let me see... ah, here it is. There are many delivery reports around here._

_-Like the ones I found._

_-What? They also kept them in the core?,_ asked William, surprised.

_-Copies, most of them. And you were right: RBI and Umbrella were completely related. According to what I have found, they started cooperating in 1978, exactly at the end of the year. RBI were the ones that started the 43 project. The photo you showed me was of the first bred specimen, which was bred in RBI,_ Albert explained, _So, anything on your end?_

_-Yeah, I got the delivery report we were looking for,_ William said,_ Okay, I have them. Look at that, there are _two_ sets on initials. The first one is 'TW'. _

_-Still isn't familiar. What about the others?_

_-The others I told you about before are 'HCF'. _

_-What?!, _Albert jumped from his seat, not believing William's words. The Agency, behind this?

_-What it is, Albert?_

Albert sighed, _-What would the Agency have to do with RBI? It doesn't make sense!_

_-Then, it could mean they've been conducting experiments here!_, William chimed in, _Albert, I know where to find the data! Now_ I_ have a hunch. I need to get going though, the alarm has to be set before midnight. I'll be there in five minutes._

Albert slumped back in his seat with a worried sigh.

_The Agency... The shipments were being supervised by the HCF. What could've made Joanne cooperate with them, if she was? Yet again, I guess they might have been working together all along. We need to get to the bottom of this._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack wandered through the park, hands in his pockets and head lowered. His grey eyes were filled with sorrow but he had to accept his decision. After reading Rachel's note, Jack was about to go and desperately look for her, but he wasn't the possessive type. And, as she had written, it was for his own good; he knew about her past and how affected she was by it, the changes they had made in her body and how she had struggled to control herself. Jack had helped her those seven months they had been together, but it hadn't been enough. She wanted to protect him but in spite of that, he sometimes fought the urge of going after her, getting her back and keep living together as the couple they were. _I wonder if I'll ever see you again, Rachel. I just hope you're safe._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(February 22nd, 2005. 06:30)_

Joanne redid her ponytail for the second time after showing her ID card to the entrance guard and exhaled, getting ready for a new day of work, both physical and psychical. Physical, because she would be supervising more projects, including the one William was working on; and psychical because she'd had to stand another horrible meeting. She always became nervous and craved for leaving the room to get some fresh air and relax.

Joanne thought twice and braided her hair, leaving her usual fringe to the right. She opened the door with her free hand as he other held her hair and finished while descending on the elevator. When it stopped, she briskly headed to her office, having another look at the beautiful and untouched yellow irises. Once there, she left her bag behind her chair and started filling out recent paperwork. She somehow managed to smile when she saw that their sales had raised and their products were more popular. _That's what I like. I hope I can sort this out and be a standalone company_, she thought as she wrote. But her mind drifted away and she put the pen down, thinking about him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(11:30 am)_

Joanne entered the room, apprehensive. A big monitor hung on the wall in front of her and she twiddled with a pencil she had to ease her nerves. Then, the screen made a noise and three people appeared on it, two men and a woman. It was the first time Joanne had seen her, and she somehow appeared a foreigner.

"Good morning, Miss Dawson." The younger man said politely, like he always did.

"Good morning," Joanne replied, serene.

"May you fill us in?" Joanne felt a shiver run down her spine. His politeness had something weird to it, and she didn't like it at all. His voice was low, cold and flat, and she swallowed hard. As she talked, she noticed the woman's expression change slightly, whilst his remained impassive, listening carefully to Joanne's words.

"Well, well, you certainly are going at a good pace. I have to say that you're doing a good job, Miss Dawson. We will be expecting the next specimen shipment, are we good on that?"

"Certainly, sir. Would you wait till tomorrow? I'm going to revise the projects today to see if there are any anomalies; it wouldn't be pleasant to find there was one badly developed." Said Joanne.

"It certainly wouldn't," he replied. The hair on Joanne's nape stood on end, as if the man's words had been a huge gust of freezing wind, "Until next time," And the monitor turned off. Joanne slumped on a nearby chair and buried her face in her hands.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She didn't tell us about the new substance that Birkin brought her."

"There goes another reason why we should do it," the woman snapped.

"And I have a feeling that that 'substance' is a sample of the T-Veronica virus. It's the only one that hasn't been experimented with, and what a better way to help RBI than giving them the opportunity to treat it? Whatever it is, we're going to retrieve it."

"Truly getting out of hand. Their signals are still active, right?"

"Yeah. The tracking devices won't be shut off unless we push a tiny little button," the other man said with a funny tone. A beep interrupted the trio, and a female voice filled the room.

"Sir, the team has arrived at the location. They are waiting for your signal to carry out their mission."

"Perfect timing," Joanne's superior muttered to himself, "Good, tell them to be alert."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert stared at the shadow of the facility that stood before him, his trench coat fluttering in the wind. He had taken a moment to try and solve the puzzle using his memories and flashbacks as its pieces. '_Joanne Dawson, August 10th, 1962...; the girl in the photograph, him next to her..._' Albert sighed, as nothing made sense to him. _Maybe I knew her, but why?_

Then, he frowned, _I have a bad feeling about this._


	7. Chapter 6: Infiltration

6

Infiltration

_(13:00 pm)_

Joanne went down the elevator to the lower levels, feeling calmer. During the last hours, she had supervised again different projects, and she had received good news for the first time in the week. Besides, her superiors hadn't suspected anything, so she was free to start her research on William's substance; as a matter of fact, she was going to talk to him and assign him the research. Joanne had received news from his supervisors saying he was a man of amazing intelligence and talent, and his project had gone at the best pace. _I think it's time I gave him his chance,_ she thought smiling.

She crossed the hall and took the door to her left. She was welcomed by the researchers that left in the opposite direction as her, including William's group. Joanne was surprised when she didn't see William with them, as it was break time.

"Jim, is William around here?" she asked. James, a red-haired young man nodded.

"Yeah, he's still in the room. He said he'd be joining us shortly." Joanne nodded this time, thankful, and entered the research room. There he found William, concentrated on taking notes about whatever he was examining through the microscope. Seeing he hadn't noticed her, Joanne knocked once on the door, and William quickly lifted his head.

"Oh, Miss Dawson, I wasn't expecting you," he said with honesty lying down the pen. Joanne smiled.

"May I talk with you for a moment?" she asked. William blinked twice and nodded.

"Sure, tell me."

"I've been thinking about this for a while now and I've decided to assign you the research on your substance. I thought you would be the best person to handle it." She said, stepping closer to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Your supervisors have told me you have… an unusual intelligence for one so young," she laughed nervously, "No offence meant."

William laughed slightly, "And none taken. People have said that to me many times now," he said with modesty, "I'm glad I'm doing a good job here." William was surprised with himself: how come he was talking so calmly? He was sure Albert would be laughing at him wherever he was, but he didn't care. Finally somebody was appreciating his job.

"Would you accept my thanks?" Joanne asked then. This question got William by surprise.

"For what? I'm just a rookie…" he replied lowering his gaze.

_-Damn it, I hate having to say this._

_-Well, it's part of the job_, replied Albert flatly.

"In these days I've noticed a slight change in the ambient, like… Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you wouldn't like to hear my nonsense, excuse me," she excused herself nervously. William couldn't help to smile.

"Not a problem, Miss Dawson," he said.

"Call me Joanne."

"Alright… Joanne." William corrected himself. Joanne felt at ease and, after saying goodbye, she left. William frowned, bugged and slightly angry with himself. _She trusts me too much,_ he thought.

_-I see you're not used to hurting people__, William._

He said nothing and ignored Albert. From under the snow, he smiled. _He's doing perfectly, though it will have some effect on him. Hm, he'll understand; I wouldn't act like he does and nothing would change. We're somewhat… antagonistic when it comes to this._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't let this affect me. Damn! I'm too soft sometimes. But I have done this for us to go on, that's why, and I shouldn't regret it." William said out loud, sure no one heard him. He looked at his watch: 13:15. "Right, let's get going."

_-Albert, make sure you've configured the hard drive and connection to receive the data_, William said, decision in his voice. He received no response, but he knew Albert was already on it. William packed his things and headed for his destination as quickly as he could… and trying to appear casual.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanne climbed up the stairs and entered the ladies' restroom. As she searched in her pockets, she placed herself in front of the mirror and, apprehensively, she removed her wavy fringe from her face and stared at her reflection. Nothing had changed; it was still the same, though she had started coughing up blood some weeks ago. To avoid it, she took some pills from a circular box she had and swallowed without any water; she didn't like to do that. Surprisingly, no memories flashed through her mind and she sighed, hiding her face again. But she reasoned: hiding a part of her was hiding half of herself and, feeling more confident than she really was, she frowned.

She made her decision.

_I'm pulling out.__ No matter what happens, RBI _will not _be blackmailed. _

Poor thing though was that an unbeknownst danger approached her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She's arrived."

"Good, let her in," he said as he turned around to face the door. It opened and revealed a tall woman with a bag hanging from her shoulder. Her black eyes had a strange gleam in them, and her beautiful long mane of black hair was sprawled on her shoulders. She felt the piercing and examining gaze of the trio standing before her and she recognised the man who she personally met: mahogany eyes, tall and thin but strong complexion and messy chocolate brown hair.

He bared his teeth in a smile, "Welcome to the Agency." He said with false politeness. She nodded, silent.

No regrets.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(__21:25 pm)_

Since William's talk with Joanne, Albert hadn't heard from him, and he certainly wouldn't bother him. He felt a bit worried about him but he couldn't let his feelings cloud his mind; it was important to remain collected. As he surfed through Umbrella's DC's underground facility's database (he had recently found out about that branch), he discovered an interesting file: a growth accelerator. _Fabricated by Umbrella_, Albert thought,_ Still, the DC branch was small. They couldn't have been the ones supplying the product to, maybe, the Agency; it definitely wouldn't make sense. Both companies are not on very good terms, though maybe they might've reached an agreement. It's possible, yet hypothetical. _

Albert dug deeper into the matter. As he read the file and found out about the accelerator's characteristics, his theory was turned around. He didn't matter: much to his chagrin, he was used to it. The product was specifically design to work on humans and it truly wouldn't be effective on plants; though that raised another question: who were they planning to use it on? Had they used it already, if that was the case?

Suddenly, a window appeared on the screen: **Data transfer complete**. _William must have a part in this._

_-And I do. I've compiled together all the data and files about RBI in a single folder. Then, I've transferred it secretly. That's why I told you to get ready. And I've taken longer to avoid getting busted. _

_-Oh, I see. And that's why you didn't talk to me until now._

_-What?_, said William catching the hint, _You thought I'd be mad? Well… I…_

_-__If you're not, let's continue_, Albert cut him. And actually, that didn't bother William; in fact, he knew he needn't give any other explanation, and he felt relieved.

_-You're right. __Tell me about the files after taking a gander at them, will ya?_

Albert began decompressing files and sighed when it saw it'd take long. Though exactly five seconds later, a window popped up: **Password.**

_-__She has the research files protected… It really must be a lot of data, and important as it seems. Oh, which reminds me, have you gotten started on the T-Veronica?_

_-Actually, I have a few theories, yet I haven't had a lot of time. __Remember you told me one of its capabilities was making your blood combustible? Well, that Alexia you've told me about must have gone on a cryogenic sleep. I mean, those changes couldn't have been made overnight, it's just too complex. I think I'd have to spend more than one year here if I were to take the research. _

_-You've officially taken it now, and it's definitely a bothersome virus. __For now, I'm more interested on examining these files, _Albert said, nagged. Suddenly, he heard a low and loud _clunk_ and, apprehensively, he got out of the van to investigate. Everything was silent; it was snowing and misty. But his keen sense of hearing caught something else: a dog's snarl… and it sounded strangely familiar.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William, thinking Albert was busy, went up to the main floor and welcomed the greenhouse's ambient. He had been there so many times already he had gotten used to the damp and, also, he liked the scent of some aromatic flowers they kept. There, he found James, his partner, who noticed him and welcomed him with a smile.

"I heard of your 'promotion'. Congrats." He said. William didn't know if to accept them or remain impassive, but there wasn't any scathing irony or sarcasm in his words. Judging by his personality, James was a very honest and humble person.

"Why thanks," William finally said, going past James to the irises.

"I have the feeling somebody likes you…" said James with a smile. William looked at him, raising his brow.

"And who might that be?"

"Oh, c'mon. You get it, don't ya?"

William snorted a short laugh, "Oh, no, no, no, I don't like where this is getting," he said standing up. James laughed and lifted his hands, defensive.

"Just kidding, forget I said anything." He replied. William found odd befriending someone else. It was… so different. _Don't let it get to you!_, another voice in his head said, "We're the only ones left in here. I'm gonna go check on the others and I'm outta here, 'kay?"

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Said William as James left. Exactly thirty seconds later, William was sure he had heard something like a gunshot.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert rolled to one side and stood with his guard up, knees flexed and his perception sharpened to the extreme. As he had expected, they were dogs, but not normal ones. He recognised them: the Cerberus. That only meant there would be more trouble. Five dogs surrounded him, a killer gleam in their red gazes. With furious barks, two leaped at him, one at his throat; Albert quickly kicked one away and, avoiding being bit, caught the other's snout and shut its jaws tight, breaking its neck afterwards. He heard the other two dogs whine in shock and fear, but they still weren't intimidated.

_-William, are-?, _Albert couldn't finish as a dog leaped at him and successfully bit his forearm. He let out a small cry in pain and punched the animal in its face, again breaking its neck due to his strength. Suddenly, he felt his stomach retch. _Not again…_, he thought as he coughed up the little amount of virus that had penetrated his body. Albert looked up as the two remaining dogs attacked him, jaws wide open. He lay on his back, gripped the dogs' necks and knocked them out.

"And stay put, damn it!" he cursed out loud as he shook his arm in pain. Blood oozed from the wound and his body didn't cure as fast as he wanted it to. Albert quickly snatched a bandage from the first aid kit and wrapped it around his wound. Yet he met the ones who had sent the dogs but, fortunately for him, they didn't last long.

_-Albert! We got a problem around- Oh, goddamn it!_

_-William! What's happening there?!_

_-It's everyone! They've… they've been murdered!_

_-Get Joanne to safety, NOW!__ I'm coming!_, Albert ordered as he started running towards the facility. He ran faster and faster by the minute and, as he got closer to the building, he spotted shadows on the roof. The Agency.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William crossed the hall as he went past his partners' bodies. It was a horrible sight that brought up a nasty memory. It was hard to get it out and, by the time he did, he had in his sights a man completely dressed in black with a gun in his hand. _Damn, he's going for Joanne!_ He stomped his foot on the elevator, _Can't this thing go any faster?_ When he arrived at the top, it was already late: the stranger had disappeared. William soon came across the assassin's backup, which consisted of four men, two not so normal. They walked as if drunk and their legs were extremely thin… that was it: the legs. As soon as William was spotted, the 'men' darted out their arms at a breakneck speed, which caught William by surprise, and wrapped themselves around his ankles. They lifted him up and he crashed against the wall. Because of his physical strength and sturdy muscles, the wall cracked.

William lifted his head immediately and avoided another attack as the human men started firing at him. He hid behind a small barrel and peeked out when the firing stopped. Then, he heard the noise of something slithering and when he looked at the front again, the (clearly) B.' arms were above him. _Oh, God…_ But they slithered back to their place as a shriek filled the greenhouse, which was preceded by a glass breaking. William looked again behind him spotted Albert taking care of the four at the same time.

"William, go get Joanne!" he shouted as he crouched. William disappeared through the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanne, startled by the noise, stood up from her chair and looked through the window. She couldn't stand the sight and lowered the curtain again; in that moment, the door busted open and she jumped with a short scream. Joanne's eyes met the killer gaze of a man standing in front of her, gun at hand. Panic stricken, Joanne backed away, trembling and unable to take her eyes off him. The man slowly entered the room as he raised his gun at her, and Joanne hit a small table behind her. Death was standing right in front of her, and his weapon clicked.

Joanne ducked, covering her face with her arms, a gunshot was heard and also, a grunt. Joanne opened her eyes and lowered her arms, only to see the bullet had missed her forehead by inches. It was William who had intervened in time and was now struggling with the man, but he soon knocked him out with a blow right in the middle of his brow. Alert, William gazed in her direction and took her hand.

"C'mon!" he said dragging her out. Joanne followed closely, feeling sick. The only thing that kept her going was fear and, somehow, she trusted William; as long as he didn't turn around and shot her, she could say she was safe. They both appeared at the greenhouse again and he spotted Albert crouching behind a mount of fallen roof. The attackers were trying to sneak around him.

"Stay here!" William ordered Joanne, and she ducked behind a water barrel as William ran towards the agents. Joanne watched the impossible.

Albert gazed to his left to see William get closer by the second and he spotted an explosive barrel. _Why would they keep this in here? Oh, anyway…_

"William, the barrel!" He stopped on his tracks, getting the men's attention, and saw the explosive barrel at his side. To Joanne's horror and surprise, one of William's tentacles peeked out from his sleeve and darted out to the ceiling as another one exited the other sleeve and wrapped itself around the barrel. With a quick movement, William pulled himself up as he threw the barrel against the soldiers and they, trying to hit him, fired at the barrel instead.

"Take cover!" William shouted above their heads. Albert and Joanne did as he told as the barrel exploded, sending burning pieces all over the place. The agents screamed in pain, so did the B., and the trio didn't waste that opportunity. Albert quickly appeared beside Joanne and, after grasping her wrist, they both appeared at the door. Joanne groaned, dizzy, and William quickly landed next to them after swinging from the other side of the room. As they took the elevator, William asked Joanne:

"Are you hurt?"

"No… I'm fine." She replied, her heart pounding in her head. Her eyes went from William to Albert and she widened her eyes in surprise as she stifled a gasp, not wanting to call his attention. An image suddenly appeared in her head: her bracelet. _It's him!_

The elevator reached the upper level and the trio exited the facility, running as fast as they could. William noticed something strange in Joanne: they ran faster than anyone else, and she was keeping up, though she was slightly behind. But that wasn't the time to wonder: they had to leave. Suddenly, Albert reduced his speed as a loud and horrible whistling filled his ears and his head throbbed.

"Albert, what's wrong?" asked William. He didn't reply and took both of his hands to his head, unable to stand it. It was deafening and paralysing; his body didn't respond, and he felt the whistling chill him to the bone as if he was standing right in the middle of a hurricane. Suddenly, it faded away and Albert felt William carry him, a worried expression in his face.

"I'm okay, I can walk." He said, making William stop.

"What got you there?"

"It was… a horrible whistling, painful and deafening. I really can't tell why. But that's not important now, let's get out of here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't tell me they got away!" the woman burst out. The mahogany-eyed man didn't say anything, but threw her a disdainful look.

"Patience. It's only a matter of time; besides, we know the devices work."

"You have them in your grasp," said the newcomer, "I've felt that many times now and I tell you, not even me, a bio-weapon, could stand it; let alone his intensity was increased." He smiled.

"I see. You want to kill him, right? Specially Wesker. Tell us everything you can to stop him and you'll get your revenge."

"_Come on, this is your opportunity! Don't waste it and give yourself the pleasure!"_ shouted a voice in her mind. An evil, lopsided smile spread across her lips, and she agreed.


	8. Chapter 7: Unable to answer

7 

Unable to answer

_(__22:14)_

William started the engine of the van and drove down the street. Joanne was in the seat next to him and Albert, as William expected, was in the rear part, sitting on the floor with the laptop on his legs. Concentrated, he tried finding another way to unlock RBI's files, but they were completely locked and encrypted. He couldn't avoid smirking. _Nice way to protect the files. I'll have to wait_, he thought turning his gaze to Joanne. She'd have to explain herself and, with that, he'd find out more about his past and if she was somehow related to him.

After a ten minute ride, the van stopped in front of a small house, but big enough for a least four people. Joanne followed them inside, more nervous than ever before. After everything that had happened, she was devastated but now she was held hostage! She soon corrected herself: William had saved her from a certain death, but appearances were always deceptive. _I guess I should wait,_ she told herself, a knot in her stomach.

"Joanne, do you have your wallet?" Albert asked her. Joanne shivered at the sound of his low, cold and impassive voice. She nodded slowly and handed it to him. He had a quick gander at it and, after handing it back, he looked at William, "I'll be back in five minutes." And he left, closing the door swiftly but calmly. Joanne and William were left alone. He didn't seem to mind, as he walked up to the couch and examined his ankle: there was the BOW's mark, a bit swollen and read. _I have the feeling that I'll throw up soon enough,_ William teased himself.

"Will you need help with that?" Joanne asked. William lifted his head.

"No… thanks anyway," he replied, looking away. Joanne too looked away and sat on a nearby chair with a sigh. William held back a gasp in shock. Joanne's neck was barely visible, but as far as he could tell, it had a burn mark. _Then it means…_, he thought, _She's got a lot of explaining to do. _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(22:35)_

"What were you doing with the Agency?"

"The Agency?" she echoed, oblivious to the name.

"The company you worked for. What were you up to?" Albert asked coldly.

"How do you know about that?" asked Joanne, evading his question. Albert didn't do anything, not a gesture and not a sound expressing anything, but kept at it.

"Just-"

"I won't answer anything unless you tell me what _you_ were up to." Joanne interrupted categorically. William and Albert exchanged a look; William's questioning, Albert's annoyed.

_-I think we should tell her._

_-If it's the only way she'll talk, we have to. This goes for me too: we'd better not let it slip_, replied Albert leaning back in his seat.

William was the one who told Joanne about everything, Albert only intervening when necessary. Joanne listened carefully yet shocked: they'd gone through so much and done so many things it was unbelievable. And what she couldn't accept: that Albert had changed so much. _I'll have my answers; for now, mouth shut_, she thought. He indeed had changed so much…

Albert was the one who finished talking, "It's your turn to talk now," he said as coldly as before. Joanne sighed, getting ready.

"I inherited RBI at the age of twenty-eight. That year, I discovered the T-virus had been used for weapons by Umbrella, the company we had been in good terms with."

"**We**?"

Joanne nodded, "Yeah. My parents told me everything my grandfather had told them." And then, she started explaining,

"RBI was part of 'The Group', a company triangle formed by three companies, one of them RBI. They became interested about each other when their first projects saw the light and, after a series of meetings, they agreed on forming the 'team'. Umbrella was founded a few years later and seeing where Spencer was heading, they also became interested in it, though they stayed put for a while as Umbrella was still unstable. The T-virus research was the signal they needed and Umbrella joined. Things seemed to go well, as I remember seeing some records my father showed me, until by some reason, their partnership dissolved in 1988. Some… tragic accident, as I was told.

"When I inherited RBI, I quickly got used to the company business and such. Then, I soon found out about the path RBI had taken and I decided to turn the tables on my own. I discovered T-virus supplies in an underground warehouse and, altering the virus' structure, we managed to create new substances. We started focusing on 'beneficial biology', as you might call it, and our products soon hit the market. At the beginning, we didn't receive much benefits and the company kept going thanks to the funds on my grandfather's bank account. Until, fortunately, we began receiving more and more benefits, until our brand, 'Ribbon', was a popular demand. Circa 1998, that's when things got bad.

"Because of my father, RBI kept in touch with Umbrella and, after the Raccoon city outbreak, Umbrella's failure on stocking delivered a blow to our funds. My father helped them recover with a good amount of money, leaving us with a fairly small quantity. Still, thanks to our successful sales, we made it out of that situation. We kept on until they started putting pressure on me."

"The Agency?" asked William. Joanne nodded again.

"Yeah. One day, I noticed a big change in our work pace. Customers, like pharmacists that bought our products, and our suppliers started to complain. The money was due in three days and they hadn't received it yet. The Agency had frozen the company's private bank account so no money could be withdrawn or put in. We were blackmailed, obliged to work with them; if we didn't comply, we would be left with nothing. They even hinted at somebody put in danger and I couldn't risk it… so we did it. It was the year 2003."

_-The same year I left the Agency!_, Albert told William, hiding his surprise under his impassive face, _I don't consider it a coincidence. The year that followed they sent Ada to monitor my activities. Also, threatening doesn't surprise me either; they'd do whatever they had to reach their goals. They must have wanted me eliminated badly. _

_-I'll say. It's clear they've been using RBI to__ create an 'army' against you, _said William.

_-__Well, they also wanted to rise as the richest company in the world, so it wouldn't be odd of them to have partners around, even if they were successful by themselves. _

"We need to know what kind of bio-weapons you designed for them. How to unlock the files?" Albert asked.

"The password is 34273T/C." She told him. Albert stood up immediately and he brought up the little window on the laptop's screen. He typed the password in and it was instant: a list with all of the files appeared as well as a process bar, "The encryption conversion will take its time." Joanne said as she felt Albert's inquiring eyes upon her. He straightened himself and Joanne talked again, "You were interested in what kind of B. we designed, weren't you?" She knew Albert was a man that could be trusted… and she had known that for a long time.

Albert nodded, frowning. William suddenly remembered something.

"Was that one of your bio-weapons the ones we fought at the facility?" he asked, looking intensely at Joanne.

"The 'Vine 812'. You know which name it's based on. It has the ability to stand like a human, though you'll recognise it because of its swaying. It has medium intelligence and will attack its designated target with, as you found out, its long and extensible arms. If they are wrapped around its target for more than six seconds, they either poison it or suck their blood, depending on which zone they are holding. They are not very dangerous, but they know how to camouflage themselves in places where plants are abundant," she explained.

"Medium intelligence… would they be able to reason by themselves?"

"Depends which matters they reason on. They would think about combat techniques and such, but I don't think they'd reach a higher intelligence level."

"How did you breed them?" asked William.

"The Agency's research team in RBI," started Dawson. Those words brought another nasty memory to William's mind: James and the others murdered. Joanne talking made him come back to reality, "combined… God, it gives me the shivers just thinking about it: they combined human foetuses with a newly-sowed vines' cells so that the plant's cells developed within the new individual. Don't ask me where they got them; they just told me."

William tried to fool Joanne expressing a tad of grief, but Albert did not change a single thing about his countenance. He couldn't fake or feel anything: he had messed with humans his whole life and not a single bit of regret lived within him.

"Joanne, do you know if the Agency was part of 'The Group'?" he asked.

"No, I don't," she replied, "Though I could go to my place and have a look at my grandfather's diary. Maybe there are clues about them written down and also about Umbrella."

"Alright. We should get some rest for now," replied Albert, already making plans for the next day, "Tomorrow, we'll get that diary."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(23:05)_

Once Joanne had left upstairs, Albert and William could have a more private conversation. So many questions around and few answers. They hoped that Joanne's grandfather's diary would help them find more about the Agency.

"William, you don't think that tragic accident Joanne mentioned was Marcus' assassination by our hands, don't you?"

"That's bugged me too. This makes me wonder if Marcus had a relationship of some kind with somebody in one of the companies or all of them. For the Agency to know…"

"Why would Spencer make them know, if that was the case? Looks like he didn't consider the matter important enough, and that could've enraged them," replied Albert, "Though it might not be only that." William raised his brow, questioning. Albert proceeded to explain himself.

"We could consider a good number of reasons that could've influenced on their dissolving. That 'tragic accident' could've been a mess-up, leading to funding problems; it could've been a research gone wrong or, if our presumptions are correct, it might have been Marcus' death. And now, we could look at the two sides of that matter: or the companies knew it was us or Spencer managed to lie to them and the companies were really disappointed."

"If the companies actually knew, that can only mean they had somebody infiltrated. He or she might have gotten in with the trainees that came in that year," said William. Then, he saw the hint of a short smile on Albert's face.

"You still remember, don't you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

William smiled too, "Yeah, I guess everything's coming back little by little." Then, his expression suddenly changed and Albert knew very well why. There was only one word to bring a torrent of memories back: Raccoon. And that word reminded William of something.

"Albert, I've been meaning to ask you this, but I've waited till we had finished with RBI and everything concerning it."

"Which is?" Albert asked flatly.

"I've finally remembered that she's still alive and if you tell me about her, I'll finally know. Where's my daughter?"


	9. Chapter 8: Tension

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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8

Tension

"Albert, where is she?" asked William, dead serious. Blue gaze against blue gaze, tension was starting to build up between both. Albert was and wasn't worried about the situation: how would he explain William what happened and, most important, what he had done? Yet again, he always had something present: the truth was always painful.

"Please, you have to tell me. I need to know where she is!" William insisted.

"In the Agency's hands." Albert replied bluntly. William's jaw almost dropped.

"Sherry's with them?" he echoed, not believing his ears, "How could that happen?"

"After Leon escaped with Sherry from you, he agreed to leave her in the government's hands. The Agency had spies inside it. She was taken into custody and has been imprisoned ever since… everything done on my behest."

William's heart sank. Albert had been the mastermind behind Sherry's imprisonment? He simply couldn't believe it and he refused to. His emotions got in the way and, out of rage, he quickly stepped in front of Albert and sent his fist to his face. Albert caught it and remained motionless.

"Why the hell would you do that?!"

"You impregnated her with the G-virus, William, and the Agency was interested in it. Sherry had the last remnant of it, and she had to be experimented on to extract it."

"Not the Agency, it looks like _you_ were interested in it," William retorted in anger. William's words struck Albert slightly and he blocked another of his friend's fists, "Swear to me she's unharmed. Swear it!"

"I can't." Replied Albert as coldly as always; then, he pushed William against the wall. He hit it with his back and the nape of his neck and, stunned, he sat on the floor, legs tucked in. He leaned his head forward and his bangs shadowed his eyes. He felt a tear run down his cheek and clenched his fists to restrain himself from crying. He couldn't, not there. It'd be too embarrassing.

"Why would you do that…? Oh, Sherry…" he whispered really low. Albert felt his emotions clash. On one hand, he knew he couldn't regret it but, on the other, he couldn't watch William suffer that way. Albert had to have this in mind: he hadn't raised a family; he didn't understand what it was to lose somebody and the pain it caused. This time, he knew he had to help him.

"But I do know where she is." Added Albert, making William slowly lift his head. Their gazes met again, "In their main facility. They wouldn't keep her anywhere else." William collected himself, and stood up without a sound. He then felt Albert's hand on his shoulder.

"You'll get her back… I can swear you that." A small ray of hope lightened William's heart. William knew it'd be difficult to forgive Albert after what he did, but it wouldn't make any sense being angry with him. And he had to appreciate his gesture: William would get Sherry back. And it was guaranteed: Albert _always_ kept his promises, and he knew that out of personal experience.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(February 23__rd__, 2005. 11:20 am)_

"Are the surviving members of the team still there?" asked the brown-haired.

"Yeah, they're searching the remnants of the facility," replied his female partner.

"_Bad news, sir_," said the leader of the team, "_We've logged in into the computer core, but all the data's been erased or stolen. There's nothing here._"

"As cunning as always, aren't we?" he said with a smile on his face. The black-haired woman looked at the monitor and fixed her gaze upon it. Their signals were moving, meaning they were heading out somewhere.

The brown-haired, noticing anxiousness in her black eyes, widened his smile, "Hunter or hunted, which one do you prefer?" he asked, dropping a hint. She caught it and smiled: she was going for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time she looked forward to her revenge, between the crowds in the streets of Zurich walked two special people, a good distance between them. Joanne walked at a fast pace, with Albert following from behind. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling she was being stalked in spite Albert wasn't doing that. And Joanne also thanked he was behind her, as walking so fast made her fringe rise and leave her face visible. She wanted to show that to him, but it wasn't the time. _I wonder if he'll remember._

Albert entered the same building Joanne did a few moments later and, after going up the stairs to the first floor, they reached Joanne's apartment's door and walked inside.

"Let me go and see if I can find it." Joanne said disappearing through a hall to their left. Albert didn't say anything, only nodded, and a photograph caught his attention. There was an only person in it, and that person was Joanne. She looked strangely familiar and then, Albert remembered: it was the same girl in the photograph _he_ kept! Albert's eyes widened behind his shades and wanted to look away, yet he was unable to.

"I found it!" said Joanne, entering the main room again. Albert looked at her instantly and nodded. Joanne went for the door and gripped the handle, but she stopped and spoke, "You don't seem to remember, don't you?"

Albert's frown deepened, "Remember what?"

Joanne sighed, "Nothing, I'll leave you to figure that out. I don't think it's time for me to tell you," she said, apparently tired, "Say, you didn't tell me your name. May you?" she asked then, her voice tone changing.

"Albert Wesker," he replied after hesitating.

"Thanks." Joanne replied as they exited the apartment. Joanne smiled without Albert noticing. _Thanks for telling me your name, but I already knew._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She jumped from rooftop to rooftop at an amazing speed, closing in to her objective. Unarmed and unprotected, with no gear at all, she jumped to an apartment block on the other side of the street and landed without flinching. Determination and coldness was expressed by her face, but hate and anger by her eyes. She walked to the edge of the building and sat there, one leg tucked in and an arm on that knee.

"_So, that's where he's supposed to be?_" her inner voice asked her. She nodded, "_I see you're not very talkative lately. That's bad, it's gonna make things difficult._"

"You can always come out and talk to me." She replied closing her eyes.

"_If I had a mirror, that is. Anyway, do you think you'll get him this time?_"

"You'll help me, won't you?" She then felt her other self's bloodthirstiness, hatred and anxiety.

"_Of course I will!_" she exclaimed evilly, "_And you'll feel pleasure of killing!_" Then, at the end of her gaze, appeared her target and the other her shared her feelings, which almost drove her crazy with anger. It was so intense she wouldn't be able to stand it, but she had to… if she wanted to accomplish her mission.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanne walked in the opposite direction they had taken before, with Albert now following very closely. Albert suddenly lifted his head with a swift movement and stopped for a second. He could feel something, and something dangerous. He scanned his surroundings with his eyes and he stumbled across a moving shadow in the rooftops above them. Without a moment's hesitation, he ran towards Joanne and told her:

"We need to go, fast. Follow me," Joanne did as told and followed Albert as he dodged the people around them. Joanne felt adrenaline through her veins and also fear. Why the rush all of a sudden? She knew something was wrong. Then, she turned left as Albert did, entering a set of alleys between the blocks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_We have the advantage. Show me what you can do, R-"_

"Don't say that name! And let me focus!" she said out loud landing heavily on the roof and readying her only weapon. It peeked out through the edges of her sleeves and exited a bit. The woman walked to the edge of that block and had them on her sight: Wesker. She stood of profile and let herself fall. As she fell, she felt free but when she landed, she became bounded to her oath again. And her gaze met his.

"Damn, not you again!" Albert cursed. She smiled, "Joanne, go!" Joanne nodded and started running, but she stopped when felt a cold, sharp tip under her chin.

"Oh, no, you're staying to watch him DIE!" shouted the woman. When she lunged at Albert, the tentacle next to Joanne pierced her shoulder and pinned her against the wall; then, as if painlessly, it broke and straightened like a stake. Joanne emitted a short cry in pain and tried to get it out, but the piece had grown and dug itself into the wall, making it impossible for Joanne to move.

Albert caught the woman's wrists and held them inches away from his neck, making an incredible effort. Her strength had increased so much in the last months he found it difficult to defend himself. She pushed even harder and, taking advantage of that moment, Albert crouched and dug his shoulder into her stomach, sending her away. Albert straightened himself as he felt a little pain on his cheekbone: just a little scratch. He'd finish her off right that instant.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"They're taking too long and I can't contact Albert…" William told himself, staring at the window, "Joanne's place was near here, like she said. Maybe-" He suddenly cut himself off. He felt something warm under his ribs, all air was stolen from his lungs… and everything turned black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Now these devices are useful!"

"We already have Birkin and, with her distracting Wesker… he won't last long." Said the other woman. The mahogany-eyed sneered at her, impressed by her naivety.

"I suggest you don't underestimate the Birkins. They're hard nuts to crack, especially him. Though everything's going smoothly. Oh, well, tell her and the team to retreat. We don't want anymore casualties."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Before she lunged at Albert again, she frowned and then, sneered at him.

"Unfinished business, I'd say, that again I can't settle." She said and disappeared jumping at a rooftop and running away. Albert frowned, clenching a fist, when one of Joanne's groans made him pay attention to her. She was attempting to get the tentacle out with all her might, and it looked like she had made some progress. Still, it wasn't out yet.

"Hold on," Albert said gripping it and pulling strongly. Joanne let out another short scream when the thing finally came out, soaked in Joanne's blood. Joanne pressed against the wound to stop the bleeding as much as she could, "Let's go," he then told her, and she nodded. They both headed to their place as fast as they could.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_I told you, it'd feel nice. It did, didn't it?_"

"Yeah, though damn them for telling me to pull out so soon."

"_Oh, well, we'll get our chance. And __**nobody**__ is going to take it away from us, I swear that nobody will._"

"I hope you're right," she said as she jumped again, this time higher. As she descended to the ground, she mixed with the Swiss crowd to go unnoticed as she headed again to HQ.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert and Joanne stood in front of the house's door and climbed up the small set of stairs and, to their shock, they found the door ajar. _We closed it,_ Albert thought opening it very slowly and stepping in stealthily. Then, they found things laying on the floor and a broken vase, something they considered strange. But they didn't believe their eyes when they looked at the parlour's direction.

William was gone, and the only thing left behind was a trail of blood.

Fear tugged at Albert's chest more than he ever imagined and crouched next to the trail. It was fresh and it was of a brighter colour, clearly telling it was William's. Albert quickly stood up.

"WILLIAM!" he screamed at the top of his voice. He received no response, "Joanne, check upstairs, hurry!" he ordered, his voice almost shaking. Joanne nodded and climbed up the stairs in pairs, forgetting about the pain in her shoulder. She looked in every room until she entered one of the bedrooms.

"Albert! He's here!" she shouted. Albert got there in the nick of time and went to Joanne's aid the same moment he had William on sight. It was angering: his shirt was completely stained with blood, so was the floor around him. His temple showed a cut which still bled and his shoulder and ribs had been pierced by bullets. Joanne took his pulse: his heart was still beating, but barely. _Oh, God…_, she thought, panicking.

"Help me get him on the bed," ordered Joanne. They both lifted William up and lay him on the bed, "Do you have anything to cure him?" Albert left and then entered again with disinfectant gauzes and bandages, "Thanks," she said and started working on extracting the bullets. Albert backed away to a corner and watched Joanne work slowly but surely. Anger took over him. _Damn it! The earlier fight was just a distraction! How could I have been so stupid not to realize! They're going to pay for this, I promise. _


	10. Chapter 9: Awakening

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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9

Awakening

_(13:46)_

Joanne looked concernedly at William, who still slept on the bed. Extracting the bullets had been hard, but she had managed to do the best she could. She frowned as seeing William there brought unpleasant memories to her mind, and she shook her head trying to make them go away. Suddenly, William started grunting in pain and shaking uncontrollably. Joanne, alarmed, quickly took his hand by instinct and squeezed it with the same strength he had come to grip her hand. William clenched his other fist in pain as the nightmare anchored itself to his mind, making it real enough for William to think he was actually reliving the memory.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_He's going to make it!" exclaimed Lynn. William's body kept convulsing as it absorbed the parasitic virus. His cries in pain filled the room, only assuring the experiment would succeed. He suddenly coughed up blood and his complexion became much paler. After one last convulsion, he dropped unconscious again, breathing slowly and blood seeping from his mouth. As the parasite made his way to his spinal cord, his body shrank and he started trembling… as one last scream left his mouth._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

William gradually calmed down and Joanne sighed, drawing back her hand as Albert slowly stepped into the room. He saw Joanne tend again to William's bandages. There he was, lying asleep on the bed, bandages all over his chest and panting slightly. Albert clenched his fist again, almost unable to control a fit of anger. Joanne noticed him and turned her face to him.

"He'll live, but he's in no shape even to sit up." Said Joanne, replying to Albert's unasked question, "The bullet almost reached his right lung and his shoulder will take a while to heal. It's been difficult, but he'll make it." Joanne then brushed off some blond bangs out of William's forehead, sighed and stood up.

"Tend to yourself. I'll stay here," said Albert. Joanne nodded and disappeared through the bathroom door. Albert sat on a chair next to the bed and leaned forward, staring at William with concern nobody could see. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, until he heard William grunt. William slowly opened his eyes and pulled a face in pain.

"Al-"

"Don't talk and calm down." Albert quickly interrupted him, "Joanne's managed to treat your wounds and now, she's tending to hers. How're you feeling?"

"Bad," he replied, staring at the ceiling. His voice had a hint of annoyance, which Albert instantly noticed, and he knew why the stroppiness.

"You're still ticked off, aren't you?" Albert asked leaning back, a smile almost appearing on his face. William moved his head away.

"What do you expect?" he snapped but then, he sighed, "Well, I am and I'm not, to tell you the truth."

"Circumstances required it, William."

"You told me, yeah. But I didn't see it coming; it'll be a hard one to let go."

"I'm not asking to be forgiven."

"I know that too," William said, "And I know I should be grateful; you're going to help me after all, so it doesn't make any sense being mad at you. Besides, we still have a long way to go till we end this."

Albert nodded, "You're right. I'll do what I can." This time, William gave out a short smile.

"Thanks."

Albert nodded again and exited the room, heading for the stairs, and William remembered again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Just a feeble smile coming from him was enough for a wave of memories to invade his mind, though they were just blurry and seemingly unrelated. William crossed the threshold and disappeared taking a turn to the right, leaving Albert slightly confused. __Dispatching everything, he left in the opposite direction._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Joanne appeared in front of Albert, the diary in her hands. They both shared a very short look, and Joanne proceeded to speak.

"I was wondering if we could have a look at it together," she said, growing tense. Albert stepped aside and entered again after her, "How're you feeling, William?"

"I already told Albert, it hurts," he replied teasingly, "I think I can sit up now." Joanne went to stop him, but he sat up, grimacing in pain, "That's better. Oh, you got the diary!"

"Yeah. Are you with enough energies to check it out with us?" asked Joanne taking the seat Albert had taken before; she placed the chair in a good position so William could look at it. William nodded as Albert crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against a chest of drawers behind Joanne with a serious expression. Joanne looked through the pages looking for an entry, and she didn't find one until she was at the middle of the book. Both read the entry with interest. It read as followed:

_May 24__th__, 1960_

_We've made business with the companies and it's turned out quite well. In July, we're going to meet again and present our projects to each other. I have a feeling that we'll agree with each other and work together. Wouldn't that be something good for RBI?_

"Nothing relevant on this one," said William.

"Not at all. The companies are mentioned, and this can only mean they're steps away from forming the Group." Albert chimed in as Joanne turned the pages until she found the earliest entry of July.

_July 18__th__, 1960_

_We finally made it! We've established 'The Group' and we're working together now. The Agency will be working with us more closely and I don't know about the other. Maybe they'll be monitoring or something; I haven't gotten quite in touch with them. _

"The Agency…" murmured Joanne. William frowned.

"You said the Agency and Umbrella hadn't been on very good terms, right?" William asked Albert, who nodded, "How could've they been cooperating then? If Umbrella joined the Group afterwards…" Then, it hit him, "Joanne, look for an entry dated in 1988."

_-Why all the hurry?_, asked Albert mentally.

_-If I'm correct, an entry on that year should give us the answer to Umbrella's and the Agency's rivalry. _

_-You don't mean that tragic accident Joanne mentioned?_

_-I do,_ William stated firmly.

_-I'll be damned if we're mentioned in there. _

Joanne finally found the fourth entry of 1988 and the three read it carefully. Albert suddenly relaxed.

_3__rd__ April, 1988_

_This is unacceptable. Today, we've had a meeting with Spencer to talk about Marcus' 'unfortunate death', from his point of view. Assassinated… Nonsense! If I remember correctly, Umbrella had tight security, right? How the hell could Marcus die? Unless it was somebody in the inside who killed him… After this, the Group has dissolved. It looked like the Agency was the most affected, since they withdrew the first ones! We're going standalone now, each one of us against Umbrella. _

Albert and William were tempted to exchange a look. There would be trouble if Joanne found out.

"James Marcus' death? I'd never have guessed it was that!" exclaimed Joanne looking at William in shock. He frowned again.

"And three rivals, huh?"

_-We still don't know something,_ Albert told his friend, _-Which was the third company? They haven't been mentioned, not even once._

_-God, we're out of clues. _

Whilst Albert and William talked between them, Joanne had a look at other entries. She came across an interesting one, dated on 1978.

_30__th__ September, 1978_

_We're working with the Agency on a new project again, the 'Tyrant project', and we've helped them develop some kind of tracking devices to plant them with them. I wonder what they will do with them…_

"The Tyrant project?" Joanne asked to herself.

"Hm?" questioned William.

"A 'Tyrant project' is mentioned here, carried out by the Agency. RBI developed for them a tracking device of some sort to plant the Tyrants with it. Strange…"

_-This doesn't look good. Could that Tyrant project be ours? The one that created our bodies?_, asked William, his voice trembling.

_-It doesn't make any sense. For the Tyrant's body to work properly, it must have been of recent creation. Besides, remember Spencer mentioned _they _had been the ones who had created the Tyrants? How could the Agency be involved in that? _

_-It just keeps getting worse,_ William sighed, downhearted.

_-Well, I have an idea, and Joanne's gonna help us_, said Albert instantly_, -William, we're going to go get your daughter and, at the same time, we're going to find out clues._

_-How will Joanne help us in that?_

-_You'll see how_, replied Albert, enticed by the idea in his mind: one of his typical, and he had to avoid smiling. William shrugged and leaned back against the headboard. "I'll make the arrangements."

"For what?" Joanne asked Albert.

"We're _visiting_," he told them with irony, "some friends." And he left the room.

"I have a bad feeling about that," said Joanne, "William, where are you going?"

"Not us, but you as well." He replied, and proceeded to tell her briefly about the situation. Joanne managed to give out a smile.

"I would've never thought you had a daughter," she said, making William laugh softly.

"I hope we can get to her."

"I understand how you feel," agreed Joanne, widening her smile, "I too had somebody to be with."

"If you don't mind me, 'had'?"

"He's gone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She slowly regained consciousness and felt her heartbeat, slow and steady. She was alive. She came to her senses at a very slow pace, feeling something cold against her skin, smooth and easing: water. And she started hearing muffled voices somewhere around her, shouting words that soon became understandable. What she couldn't do was see the outside; her lids were heavy and it was difficult to lift them. Everything was suddenly intelligible for her.

"She's waking up, sir, and she shouldn't yet!" She heard a man say. Her body began to respond and work, and she could slightly rise her head, focusing on hearing more.

"She's finally conscious… Sherry, can you hear me?"

At the sound of the name, she opened her eyes.

_I hear you._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William opened his eyes, breathing heavily after a bad dream. His chest ached, and not only because of his wounds, also because he had dreamt about Sherry, another memory that tugged at his mind. He sighed and swallowed as he stood up with difficulty. William was confused: he was healing at a normal human's speed, and that wasn't right. Still too dizzy to think, he slowly walked to the stairs after fetching his stained shirt and went them down limping.

Downstairs, he found Joanne reading her grandfather's diary, comfortably lying on the sofa. As always, her right side was not visible, and her left eye scanned the room as she lay down the book on her lap. She found him standing at the stairs.

"Hi. Something wrong?" she asked sitting up. William shook his head and raised his brow.

"Where's Albert?" he asked.

"He's upstairs, getting some rest. Fortunately, I could get that into his head; he's the most stubborn person I've ever seen." She laughed.

"You wouldn't know," he agreed with a smile.

"Can I take a look at your wounds?" Joanne asked. William felt a bit uncomfortable, but it was better that she examined them since he couldn't lower his head because of the pain. And so, he took his shirt off and exposed his wounds. Joanne stood up and placed herself behind him, taking a look at the wound in his shoulder. William then felt Joanne's cold fingertips on it and he couldn't repress a shiver: she was amazingly cold.

"Do they sting?" she asked.

"Just a bit."

"That's fine; they're almost healed and, luckily, your muscles have regenerated correctly. They'll still ache, but you'll be freer to move now." She explained as he wore his shirt again.

"Thanks." He said. A tense silence reigned between both, a silence in which William came up with another question,

"Why do you keep the right side of your face covered?" Joanne lowered her head, and William realised he hadn't done the right thing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry, it's fine. It's just that… I can't tell you yet." She replied with a sigh. William couldn't help biting his lower lip.

"Okay."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(25__th__ February, 2005)_

"You came here in the first place because of that?" inquired William.

"Not exactly, but now that things have taken quite a wrong turn, we'll have to use something to our advantage, won't we?" Albert replied as he loaded his gun and placed it in his shoulder holster.

In those two days, they had done the necessary to acquire the gear they needed for their 'little adventure', which only consisted on three weapons for each other. One was in a safe place in the house where they stayed, and the other two had ended up with them: a Beretta 90Two and a Glock 21; they weren't going to use anything else. Despite having supernatural abilities, guns always came in handy, and the Agency were a good bunch of real bastards: only God knew what they would have in store.

Joanne, who too was going with them, had picked a Glock 19 as she was kind of rusty in aim (as she had said), in spite having practiced a few times on shooting galleries, though that was a long time ago.

"I'll take the lead, William my back and you the rear, Joanne. I take it you're ready," Albert said, looking coldly at Joanne, who nodded, "Let's go, we got some work to do."


	11. Chapter 10: Is that you?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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10

Is that you?

They walked through the metal hall with determination, their instincts sharpened to the extreme. Everything was silent, and every sound would be perceptible. Suddenly, they heard a loud clunk that echoed through all the halls. The trio spun around and looked in all directions, drawing their weapons quickly. They stood still for a few seconds and, seeing there was nothing around, they continued. The trio stumbled across a hall that divided itself forming a "V". They stopped: which one to take?

As they thought, Albert heard the faint screech of a Hunter and warned the other two.

"Damn, so much for a sneaking mission. I don't know why, but I have the feeling they know we're here." Said William.

"In that case, it wouldn't make any sense restraining ourselves, but we'll stay low and try to go unnoticed," Albert quickly intervened. Joanne looked to her right and caught glimpse of another Hunter approaching them.

"There's another one coming," she whispered to them.

_-Great! Already in trouble!_

_-A smooth ride, this will be,_ Albert replied ironically. The Hunters came closer, their claws hitting the floor, until one of them lifted its head and sniffed the air; then, it growled and kept advancing towards the three with a fierce expression.

"No way, it spotted us…"

The creature saw them and it screeched again, warning his other companion. They both advanced towards them, lunging at them raising their claws.

"Don't shoot!" exclaimed Albert as they backed away. Then, he already had a plan, "The Hunters always expect their preys to be together, so they'll come at us through the middle. When they come, stick to the wall to avoid them and run. Ready?" he explained. William and Joanne nodded and, when the Hunters turned as Albert had predicted, the trio avoided them and took the hall to their left, running as fast as they could. When they were sure to have left the monsters behind, they stopped.

"William, you're right." Said Albert.

"Huh?"

"They know we're here." He added, looking at him. Joanne looked worried, "Let's go," Albert urged them. As they continued, Albert felt another stab of pain in his head, but it soon faded away; yet he heard the whistling, this time fainter. It remained there; he tried to ignore it and focus on his job. _We have to split up,_ he thought, _This is big and we'll stay here wandering around at this pace. I can contact William anytime. And this kind of reminds me of my short stay at S.T.A.R.S._ Then, he transmitted his thoughts to them.

"Joanne, you come with me." Albert told her.

"I'll try to find Sherry," said William. Albert nodded.

"We'll meet up here to get out," he explained, "Let's go, Joanne," And they split up, each one taking a different direction, "Don't worry, I have my ways to contact him," Albert assured to Joanne when he noticed her questioning gaze. She didn't look very convinced or satisfied with his answer, but didn't insist. They both stopped in front of the first door they came across, as it had something interesting inside. Joanne peeked through the glass and gasped in shock, something that confused Albert.

"It's Kimberly! She worked for me at RBI!" she spoke.

"Kimberly Heap?" asked Albert. Joanne nodded, not surprised by his question, "Then, it's our chance." He whispered. Albert slowly turned the handle and the door opened without a sound. He raised his Glock and stepped behind Heap; with a swift movement, he held her at gunpoint.

"Care for a little talk?"

Kimberly smiled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Whilst Joanne and Albert dealt with Kimberly, William was busy running away from the Hunters they had avoided before. He turned around and kicked one of them in the chest, and broke the other's legs. Leaving the creatures crying in pain, William entered a room and gave them the slip. He suddenly noticed the air was much colder than before and turned around. He soon regretted doing it; his heart skipped a beat and his eyes stared up front. There were several water tanks placed in lines and they contained specimens of incomplete Tyrants.

"Oh, God!" he exclaimed. William moved his gaze to a small table close to the tanks and, when he examined the electronic devices that were there, his heart sank again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"My, I didn't know you'd be coming," Kimberly lied with a lopsided smile.

"You knew," Albert corrected her categorically.

"Indeed, why lie? After all, you're not a saint either," she said evilly. Albert frowned, so did Joanne, "Go on, tell her. You know what I'm talking about."

"You start talking first," intervened Joanne, "Did you start a Tyrant project?" she asked with determination.

"You're standing beside one of them." Albert cocked his gun and clenched his fist.

"Start talking," he ordered, threatening. Kimberly shrugged and spoke.

"We did start a Tyrant project, back in 1978. We requested T-virus samples from Umbrella, and Marcus himself supplied them. We used those samples to create Tyrants and soon, the project reached a dead end, as we didn't have enough knowledge to continue. The specimens wouldn't develop, and their changes were minor, giving the bodies strength, speed, stamina and psychical abilities, remaining with a human shape. Two of these bodies were sent to Spencer, who kept them for his own purposes. I admit it, we sure were sceptical and, apprehensive, we planted those bodies with tracking devices. They hadn't activated till some days ago, when we did."

"No…" gasped Albert, feeling shock course through him.

"Oh, yeah… They're your bodies now." Kimberly laughed. Joanne gasped and gaped at Kimberly, who was enjoying the tension. Albert then understood: the pain, the whistling; all because of the tracking devices within him…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Are you alright, Albert?"... "Hey, answer me!"..._

_His body burnt like fire as if he was lying upon embers and he was sweating. There hadn't been a single moment in which the pain had faded away and it was exhausting him to the limit. _

"_Hey, come on!"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

…and within William. Then, his head throbbed in pain again, this time it was even stronger, unbearable, paralysing and stunning. Joanne cried out Albert's name, but he couldn't hear her; Albert dropped his gun and took both hands to his head, falling to his knees. Albert thought himself about to collapse and, instinctively, he screamed in pain.

Joanne saw a little remote in Kimberly's hand and, with strength, she knocked the researcher out. She didn't imagine herself with all that strength but, after all, she had changed. Joanne then kneeled beside Albert and put a hand on his shoulder as she found the 'off' button in the remote. Albert sighed, collecting himself, and stood up as he picked the Glock again, the pain fading away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"One of the signals was turned off!" the woman exclaimed. The newcomer and the mahogany-eyed frowned.

"Something must've happened to Kimberly. Send two guards to check it out."

"I'll go," said the other man as he crossed the door.

"_Say, and when will our chance come?_" asked the newcomer with her other self's voice. The man smiled.

"Soon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What was she talking about? What do you have to tell me?" Joanne asked Albert. Albert stood motionless and replied.

"We were the ones who killed Marcus." Albert said impassively. Joanne widened her eyes in shock and stared at him, dumbstruck.

"Why?"

Albert couldn't repress a short smirk, "Some things are better left unsaid." He simply answered. Joanne felt a knot in her stomach and she turned her back to him. The accident the diary talked about: Marcus' death; that made The Group dissolve.

"I can't believe it…" she whispered.

"Get used to the idea. Shall we?" he said in a hurtful tone. They looked at each other, tension building between them. Joanne gave out a short sigh and exited before he did.

_-William, we have something_, he told him.

_-I do, too,_ William replied. Albert frowned, feeling something bad going on; yet, right now, something was.

_-Where are you?_, Albert asked.

_-In the other hall, five doors ahead from the first one_, William told him.

"Joanne, let's go." He urged her. She complied without a word, and followed him angry with herself. How could've she come to trust him? And why? She herself had the answer. What were Albert's intentions? Why would he kill Marcus? All those questions roamed in her head, making her unable to focus. While she was thinking about it, they reached the aforementioned room and found William having a look at some files. He turned his head to them and frowned: Joanne's expression was much sombre.

"What do you have?" asked Albert breaking the silence.

"Nothing good, that's for sure. I've found the tracking devices that they planted on those Tyrants, which…" his voiced trailed away and William gestured at the specimens behind him. Joanne stood impassively looking at the incomplete Tyrants, yet inside she was shocked. They were humans who had barely changed.

"We have something bad too," she started. As Albert told him instead of Joanne, William's face turned to a mask of shock.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed after Albert finished, "She even asked me if I had worked for another company before. I knew it had a deeper meaning! They knew it was us! She must've worked undercover for Umbrella too, though that's kind of odd."

"And if she was working for the Agency, it can only mean Heap told them to kill Joanne," said Albert, -_And also about the T-Veronica. _

_-That's why they attacked the facility so suddenly!_, William realised. Then, to their horror, they heard voices approaching and they quickly hid in the darkness as the handle turned. Two people entered, both men, discussing about 'Project 3-16', which made the trio wonder what it was about.

_-It's our chance to make them talk about Sherry. _

"Sherry Birkin, right?" asked one of them. William couldn't help a short gasp.

"Yup, we'll transfer her from room 4 to room 6 as the boss asked in fifteen minutes." Said the other as he took a small folder from the table and exited. When they left, the trio emerged from the shadows, William's heart was racing: they'd finally find Sherry! He glanced at Albert.

"Fifteen minutes to get her. I know where room 4 is. Come with me," Albert spoke as he opened the door. They carefully crossed the hall, running as fast as they could, until they heard as if somebody walking wet approached: Vines. None of the three said anything, only focused on how to give the creatures the slip. To their annoyance, room 4 was in the hall the Vines were. William looked up and found their hideout: three ventilation shafts.

"The shafts! Come on!" he told them. The footsteps were getting closer, but William worked fast enough to get the grilles out of the way with the tentacles that appeared through the end of his sleeves. He helped Joanne up and, after making sure she was hidden, he and Albert climbed up, luckily finding enough space for them to fit. The three lying upside down, they heard the Vines right under them, and one of them emitted a deafening and heartrending screech. Joanne knew why.

Suddenly, one of the Vines' arms pierced through the metal ceiling and ended inches away from Joanne's calf; another one came up, almost scratching her side. Joanne backed away as silently and quickly as she could, but it was too difficult to do. _Damn it, I can't!_, she thought, desperate. Sooner or later she'd get hit, only to slow Albert and William down. But then, the attacks stopped and the Vines withdrew. Joanne sighed in relief.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it! They're heading to room 4!" the woman exclaimed, "We have to-"

"No," he interrupted her, "Let them get Sherry."

"What?! Are you crazy, D?" That was the last straw. D turned around, took her by the collar and held her against the wall without choking her. She widened her eyes in fear.

"I thought you wouldn't question my decisions, would you?" he hissed, threatening; then, he put her down and turned around, blaming himself after losing patience. D looked at the monitor, where one of the red dots was gleaming. _Like the moth to the flame._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert, William and Joanne entered room 4 in silence. They observed in front of them several control panels showing oxygen amount graphics, water temperature and controls for operating different tanks. Albert lowered his Glock and had a detailed look at the panels, frowning as he did. William approached him and looked through the glass, narrowing his eyes. Albert turned on the lights raising the switches and what they saw left William speechless.

Sherry was being held there, inside a small water tank.

"Sherry!" he exclaimed. Albert, walking to a door on his right, introduced a security code and the door opened. William watched in awe as Albert did that, unable to forget Sherry was in that state because of him. Joanne stayed in the room keeping watch whilst the other two went down to Sherry. He let Albert operate the panels to drain the water and open the tank, which he did careful and skilfully. The tank opened and Sherry fell in William's arms.

As William examined her, a lump formed in his throat. She'd be nineteen by now. Her hair, caught up in a ponytail, was the same shade as his and wet bangs covered her pale forehead, which William gently brushed aside. They had dressed her in a black leather cat suit.

"Sherry?" William called, shaking her delicately. Sherry opened her eyes all of a sudden and started panting as if she had just run the 100-metre hurdles. William stared directly into her blue gaze that found him. She tried to speak, but no sound left her lips. Sherry heard her name again and, to her surprise, she instantly knew who William was. She now looked at him.

"Dad?"


	12. Chapter 11: Double crosser

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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11

Double-crosser

Her memories were slowly coming back. Her father was there, by her side, after so long. She felt tears well up in her eyes, her uneasiness go away and joy course through her. Sherry stood up slowly, having difficulty to keep her balance and, when she finally got used, she deliberately fell to her right and threw her arms around William's neck, hugging him with strength. And he instantly hugged her back. Sherry cried silently.

"Shh, it's alright…" He consoled her.

"Will we get out of here?" asked Sherry as she separated. She found the answer in her father's eyes, and gave out a small smile.

Albert looked at Joanne and discovered she had pulled her fringe back; the same moment he caught a glimpse of her face, it clicked: **she** was the girl in his dreams! The girl lying 'dead' on that man's arms! And, as he thought about it, Albert knew he had been the one crying for her in the memory, but why? Albert then also knew his plan would work: third-degree burns in half of the body were almost incurable, unless it had been a miracle. _And since miracles almost don't happen, somebody must've used a virus to regenerate her flesh. This is not like me, but the only thing I can do is bluff. She'll be our way out_, he thought.

"Is she okay?" Albert asked William, referring to Sherry.

"It looks like," he replied as Sherry took his hand. Suddenly, a flashback struck the girl's mind and she trembled in fear, her eyes staring at the floor.

"What's wrong, Sherry?" William asked laying both hands on her shoulders. Sherry started shaking more violently as more images flashed through her mind; she slowly turned her head around and, when she saw Albert, her eyes widened in terror. The man who had hurt her so much, not physically but psychologically, was standing a few metres away from her with a cold expression.

"I-It's… It's him!" she exclaimed, "He-He's the one th-that locked me here!" William frowned, tired of being reminded, and Sherry hugged him, afraid.

"Sherry, it's-"

"Don't let him do it again!" Sherry begged, her eyes fixed upon Albert. William sighed and hugged Sherry again, gently stroking her hair.

"It's okay, hon. He won't hurt you anymore." He told her kindly. _You really did a good job torturing her, did you?_, William thought in anger.

"We're running short of time." Albert chimed in looking at William. He nodded and whispered something at Sherry's ear. The girl nodded too and the three exited the room. They met up with Joanne upstairs, who was glad for William, yet she didn't show it. She couldn't, not given the circumstances. The group made their way out of the room and ventured into the halls again, William carrying Sherry on piggyback. She was good to stand, yet not to walk.

William was worried sick about Sherry. The girl hadn't taken her eyes off Albert, as if she was in some kind of trance. He had made a difficult decision: to still work with him, even if he had made him and Sherry suffer. William would have to bear with the consequences but, now that he thought of it, it'd be terrible to turn his back on Albert and leave. He was the only friend he had; they had gone through so much together and helped each other every time one was in trouble. _I wonder if I can still use the term 'friend'. But I can't turn my back on him… I simply can't_, he thought, _Or maybe, I'm just depending too much on our friendship. I really don't want to hurt him, but what if it's the best thing for me… and Sherry?_

They reached where the hall forked to both directions and, when they turned right, they stopped in their tracks. D was standing in front of them with one guard at each of his sides. The group tried to back away, but found they had been cornered. A man and a woman were blocking the way at each hall, both with another two guards with them.

"My, my, Mr. Wesker, you're giving us a hard time," said D nonchalantly. Albert remained impassive and, as D took some steps forward, Albert did on the contrary, raising one arm at hip level to make Joanne back away also, all of this in a protective way. Joanne was impressed by this. D raised his brow, "Protective, now?" he said, mocking him. Albert still didn't do anything, but was really getting angry.

D thought carefully, _I might get something out of this. I just need to choose my words with care_. "Give us the girl." William's reaction was immediate: he adopted a defensive position, ready to defend Sherry at all costs.

"I want her." Said Albert.

"And we do, too." D repeated instantly. William then found himself breathless and unable to move as pain coursed through his body. Sherry, feeling it, climbed down from his back and the same moment she touched down, Sherry saw her father collapse to his knees with both hands on his head.

"D-dad! What's w-wrong?! Tell me!" she shouted at the brink of crying. It was unbearable, and William squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to fight the pain. The bit of his dark self fought alongside him too, struggling to gain control of him and end it, but William wouldn't let it. Sherry, already with tears flowing down her pale face, looked directly at D, "Just stop it, please! I'll go, but don't hurt him anymore!" she cried out. _You silly girl!_, Albert thought.

"I won't let them take you, Sherry. Not because of me." William told her, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

"Very brave of you," D said sardonically, "But it's not something I'd recommend you to do. Give us the girl," he then said slowly. William grunted, tasting blood in his throat, and lifted his head, looking defiantly at D. _I've gone through so much to get her back…_

"…I won't let **anybody** take her again!" D sneered, making Albert think fast. They were torturing him with the device; what to do to stop them? That's when it hit Albert: he again became enticed by the idea that roamed his mind. At first, he was doubtful, but it'd be the only way to get out of there, with or without her.

"We can make a deal," said Albert. D raised his eyebrows, apparently pleased with his decision. Then, the pain William felt ceased, and he started panting. He didn't like Albert's idea… not one bit.

"I'm a man of negotiations. What's that deal?" he asked, interested. _You can't do this! You know she's important for you!_, said a voice in Albert's head, but he wouldn't listen to it.

"You know medics have never been able to cure a half burnt body presenting third-degree burns, don't you?"

"Your point being…?"

"I have the example of somebody cured. A virus has been used to regenerate her burnt half and, who knows, there might be a new strain." Albert said, almost smirking. Joanne knew where he was getting at: he was going to give her up to them! _How did he know about it?_, she asked herself, _I pulled back my fringe back then! How could I have been so stupid?! _

"Joanne…?" Albert called. She gasped and started shaking, her eyes wide open in fear. _No… no, please, no! Don't do this to me, Albert!!_, she screamed in her head. William gasped too, not believing what was happening.

"N-No…" she stammered slowly backing away. D smiled, satisfied, and two guards seized Joanne. Sherry buried her face in William's shoulder, unable to watch those men, and he clutched her to his chest.

"Albert, what are you doing?" William exclaimed as Joanne struggled to break free. A conflict started between Albert and his conscious. It was true that Joanne would be the only way for them to escape, but why was he giving her up? He needed to know about her, because he **was **related to her. What he needed to do was to get her out alive.

"Please, don't do this!!" Joanne screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. Albert turned around, gasping.

---------------------------------

_But when he opened the door, he saw a man standing under the rain, and her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her clothes stained with blood, her body burnt and she wasn't breathing: she was dead. _

_He wanted to scream, but no sound left his mouth. Suddenly, the sound of alarmed voice filled the entrance hall and he was tossed aside. The boy hit the wall hard and fell down as tears rolled down his pale cheeks. 'Why?'_

'_WHY?!'_

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"_I love you, did you know that?"_

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_Do it, come on!!_

Albert didn't hesitate: he'd save her this time, and he knew why he had to. Something told him it was the right thing to do, and also the best. Leaving a black blur behind him and at a breakneck speed, he knocked both guards out, snatched a flash grenade from one of them and, before pulling the safety catch, he placed himself next to Joanne and exclaimed:

"William, close your eyes!" William quickly did as told, also covering Sherry's. Albert was able to raise his arm a little bit before feeling the end of a gun's barrel right against his nape. D wouldn't hesitate, not one bit.

Albert's heart raced in his chest as he grew tenser by the second. In those moments of tension, Joanne felt Albert's eyes upon her; to her surprise, their coldness had vanished. As the guards' sub-machines clicked, Albert pulled the catch and threw the grenade to the ground with a swift movement.

"Did you really think I'd let you go?" he asked at Joanne's ear before the grenade exploded. The flash of light blinded everyone except Albert who, in spite his eyes were now sensitive to light, guided Joanne, William and Sherry out of there thanks to the little protection his shades provided him. They opened their eyes and found themselves out of the facility. All of them started running away.

"They're getting away!" exclaimed one of the guards.

"Don't go after them." Ordered D, recovering from the flash and feeling the wind shaking his hair. Both of his colleagues approached him, "Wong, disable the tracking devices."

"Why would you do that?" Ada asked, sceptical.

D smiled, "They'll come to us soon enough."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_You know how long they're gonna keep us here, Rachel?"_

"I don't know, they're D's orders. We'd better stick to the plan or we'll end up bad." She replied, "We'll stay around a bit longer, I think. If things don't change, it'll be time to go."

"_Alright, whatever you say._"

Rachel was tired of not doing anything. She had already tried killing Wesker once, but it had been D who had spoiled everything. She would've fought until exhaustion to avenge her brother, but everything turned around in the last moment. Rachel was not convinced the Agency would help her achieve her goals; she had worked well with them, yes, and they had helped her get closer to them, but that was all. She still had the BDA behind her, whom she still was in touch with. And indeed: if things didn't change, it would be time to change sides again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Albert drove the van home, Joanne was trying to get over the stress. It was finally over, luckily, but she couldn't believe what Albert had just been about to do. Everything had turned out well, but what if he hadn't done that? Would she just have turned into another research subject? She decided not to think about and looked outside the window. The lights in the city reminded her of when she was fifteen, when she had gone out on a date for the first time. It actually brought back good memories that eased her heart and she smiled to herself. It had been such an amazing day…

"Joanne?" she heard Albert call her. She quickly turned her head to him, "I need to talk to you when we get home, okay?" he said almost impassively, yet Joanne could feel a hint of concern in his voice. And before… in spite his eyes were covered, her intuition told her Albert had replaced his usual coldness with something else, and those were good news. Was he finally realising? She nodded and focused again on the outside.

Ten minutes later, they were all home. Carefully, William got Sherry out of the car and carried her inside. She was sleeping in his arms peacefully, and there was nothing else he'd like to see than his daughter safe and unharmed. He asked himself: would he want to know what Albert had done to her? _I'd better not know, even if I'm curious. I don't know why, but I'd start to hate him… though I think I do now_, he answered himself. Once in the living room, William spoke:

"I'll take her upstairs." Albert nodded without a word and watched William climb up the stairs and disappear. Joanne walked to Albert and placed herself in front of him, her eyes questioning and her brow furrowed.

"Wanted to talk? It's your chance."


	13. Chapter 12: Hate and love

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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12

Hate and love

William laid Sherry on the bed and threw a blanket over her, careful not to wake her. The girl stirred but remained asleep. William's soul eased at the sight of his daughter safe and sound, and caressed her cold cheek. Again, a memory flashed through his head, and this time, he smiled at the thought, knowing now who that child was.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Wow! You're heavy now, aren't you?" he said raising the little kid and sitting her on his neck. Next to him, Annette smiled and the family entered the park. Their child smiled and giggled whenever she saw an animal walking around, pleased with the excursion. William and Annette couldn't ask for more._

"_Hey, look, Sherry! Over there!"..._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Sherry felt William's hand, she smiled and opened her eyes, gazing at William afterwards.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded and sighed; then, her smile vanished and she lowered her gaze, making William worried, "What's wrong?"

"What took you so long?" Sherry asked sitting up. William was completely taken aback by her question. What could he tell her? Only the truth, of course, nothing else. He had to swallow hard when he detected Sherry's begging gleam in her eyes, "Dad, tell me, please." She insisted, taking his hand with her own. William lowered his head, but not his eyes: he'd face the person he loved the most.

"I need to ask you a favour first, Sherry," he said as pain tugged at his heart. Sherry seemingly lightened up, but still she was afraid of what he would say.

"Tell me," she replied, tightening her grip around William's hand. He felt as if a dagger pierced his chest over and over. Why was he afraid of her? He came to realise not of her, but of how she would react to his words, but he had to tell her! She was his daughter, after all! He just couldn't back away now, not after desiring so much to have her by his side.

"Out of what I'll tell you, you'll have to make a decision. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but for your understanding," William said holding a serene façade; inside, he was drowning in his own sorrow and grief. Sherry nodded and remained silent for a moment.

"Just tell me and I'll see if I can," she then said. William desperately wanted to shout on the inside. _I… I have to do it, damn! _

"You remember I started a research on a virus, didn't you? Well, they wanted to take it away from me and do only God knows what with it. When I refused to comply, they shot me," Sherry gasped, horrified, "I instantly had the feeling you and your mother would be in danger, that you'd be taken away. I then… injected myself with one of the samples and turned into… a monster."

"Why?" she asked, searching for William's gaze when he averted hers.

"I tried to protect you, I wanted to. I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to any of you… but I didn't make the situation any better," Then, the image of his dead wife came to his mind, "Oh, God…" Sherry stared at him completely pale.

"You didn't…" she whispered. William leaned his elbows on his knees and looked at the floor.

"I did… I killed Annette." He said, trying to keep his voice steady. What now? Would Sherry leave him? Hate him, she would for sure. Nothing could be undone now and William just waited for her answer. None came.

"You want me to understand? Why did you kill mom? Why?" She then asked, angriness in her voice.

William forced a sad chuckle, "This is when I want you to make your decision."

"You haven't answered me." Sherry said bluntly, her voice slightly shaking.

"Why did I kill your mother? Ask the monster that took over me seven years go. Fortunately, he's gone," William replied raising his head. Sherry didn't look convinced, and William spoke again, "Didn't you hear the monster cry out loud? Scream?"

Sherry was surprised by his question. Now that she remembered, she had been worried sick about him, desperately wanting to help him, wondering if he was in danger.

"You were…" she started. William nodded.

"Yes, Sherry, I fought the monster as hard as I could, with all my might but, as you can see, I couldn't win. It took complete control over me and my consciousness; mine stayed in a corner of the monster's mind, to put it like that, unable to fight back." William replied, making Sherry realise. She was moved by William's words and then, a memory flashed in her mind, quick but painful. William also remembered.

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"_We have to get out of here! Move it!" shouted Leon to Claire and Sherry. They started running towards the end of the tunnel as the train's door flew open, pushed by the monster. Sherry ran away as fast as she could, terrified… and unknowingly running away from the person that loved her. Unfortunately, he wasn't there anymore._

_**----------------------------------------------**_

_Time ran out, the numbers showed zero, and the monster's eye widened in surprise. In that second, William's remaining bit of consciousness screamed and fought, but everything was futile._

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Sherry gasped again, taking both hands to her mouth. A knot formed in her stomach and throat and tears welled up in her eyes which, teary, averted William's. She couldn't believe what she had just come to realise; pain tugged excruciatingly at her heart.

"Sh-Sherry?" William stammered. Sherry, hugging her belly, started crying tears of remorse and grief, unable to talk, "Honey, please, I-" He couldn't say anything else as Sherry had flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. There, she cried silently, showing William how much she loved him.

"I'm sorry, dad… Forgive me…" she cried. William was stunned, but he serenely hugged her back, stroking her head and rocking back and forth to make her calm down.

"I should be the one saying that, Sherry," he replied, and she shook her head, still crying.

"I just remembered… that… I r-ran away from you… and you died!" she said, raising her teary eyes to him. William looked at her, sympathetic.

"You didn't know. And besides, you did well in escaping; I would've hurt you terribly, something I definitely wouldn't forgive myself." But Sherry felt resentful about what Claire had done.

"I'm just so sorry…"

"Shh, it's okay. Calm down, hon, I'm here," he kindly whispered to her, "I won't leave you alone again."

"Thanks, dad," she replied, separating. Affectively, William wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. Sherry closed her eyes and sighed, feeling better by her father's side, who was too radiant with joy. _I could say this is one of the best moments of my life, _he thought, smiling. But something came to his head yet again: how would she react when she saw Albert again? For now, he decided to forget about that, but he was determined to protect Sherry from him if things got bad, no matter if they were friends or not.

"I'll leave you to rest now, alright?" William said, and Sherry lay down again after leaving her hair loose. William smiled and walked to the door.

"Dad?" Sherry called, making William turn around.

"Yes?"

Sherry gave out a charming smile, "I love you." William felt happier than ever before.

"I love you too," he replied. As Sherry fell asleep again, William frowned concernedly. _I wish she was a normal student now, leading a life and everything,_ he thought, _It's my fault she's like this; I was just too damn stupid to realise. I'll definitely make it up to her… I promise._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I held an impassive countenance, though surprisingly for me, it was difficult to. Joanne sat in the armchair before me, arms and legs crossed one over the other. Joanne looked at me, and her eyes stirred up my emotions: coldness, sorrow, affection… and love. Why love? Why, I asked myself.

"I know everything now." I told her. This time, Joanne almost smiled.

"Really?" she said with scepticism in her voice and leaning on the desk, "Surprise me. Tell me what you remember." I took a couple of steps forward and spoke.

"I remember that I run down a hall and jump over a staircase. I had heard knocks on the main entrance door and, as you had gone out, I thought it was you who returned. When I opened the door, I saw a man… with you lying on his arms." I told her as the memory haunted my mind again. Joanne lowered her head.

"Well then, let me tell you that-"

"That girl was you, I know. And I know too _I_ was the one crying for you." I interrupted her.

"You're right, and I suppose you know why you were there." She said.

"I know, but I want to hear you say it," I replied. In that moment, she turned tense, "What happened to you?" I then asked her.

"I spent eight years in treatment. The fire had consumed almost all my flesh and, using the T-virus with one of our substances, they reconstructed my body. This is the result," Joanne removed her fringe again and showed me what she meant. I was surprised; in spite of the burns, I found her strangely beautiful.

"Remember when that accident happened?"

"After our second date, perhaps?"

Joanne nodded, "Yes, we had been a couple for month and a half. Good days, those were." She told me, apparently nostalgic. I remained indifferent, I wasn't troubled. Yet, now that I knew, why had I almost turned her over? What if it had gone wrong? I don't know why, but I really feared that might have happened, "Albert, what's happened to you?" She then asked me, stepping closer to me. I felt uncomfortable beside her, so I backed away and stood next to the big window. Joanne sighed behind me and something told me to talk to her; unable to fight it, I spoke:

"I've changed. Everyone does," I replied simply, my back turned to her. I heard her walk to the sofa and sit down.

"I know everyone changes, but you're different!"

"I'm still myself," I then realised I had repeated that sentence for the hundredth time. I suddenly heard her sob, something that hurt me. I refused to look at her directly, and I did it through the corner of my eye.

"Where is the other you?" she asked me, "Where is he?" I was struck by that question. As it seemed, my change had been a big one. I certainly didn't remember at first, but when I looked at her, I did: I really had changed and, as I gently sat down, I told her the answer.

"He died… along with you." And I meant it.

"Is that the reason why you changed so much?" she then asked. Seeing I didn't reply, she chuckled, "I guess some things are really better left unsaid."

"It might be the reason why." I simply told her. I felt uneasy talking with her about that, so I returned to the main topic.

I remembered how happy we'd been before Joanne died. I discovered how much I meant for her, how hard it had been for her, though I didn't understand how she could've loved me. What had she seen in me?

"And I wonder… what did you see in me?" I asked, reflecting my thoughts. That question seemed to lift Joanne's spirits and she gave out a short smile. She raised her right wrist.

"See this bracelet? It was one of the presents you made me," she told me. I saw it was simple, yet beautiful. I couldn't help to laugh: I did have a good taste, "Well… I'll be open with you: you were quiet at first, unemotional and impassive, until we started working together. From then on, we spent more time with each other and… you seemed to enjoy being with me. And then, we went out for the first time. I loved you so much…"

"Let me just ask… working together on what?" I inquired. In that moment, everything changed: Joanne didn't seem to know.

"E-Everything's bizarre… I…," she stammered as she struggled to remember, "I don't remember a single thing!" She started raising her voice, fussing, "Oh, God… I just remember… you, that's all!"

I didn't say anything, but curiosity gnawed at me. It was understandable: after spending eight years in comma, I wouldn't expect her to remember everything about herself. I found it pretty strange of me though to be listening to her talking about me. I really was a different person back then and was surprised by it. I felt Joanne look at me and I lowered my head. Finally, I had found out something about my past, a part that I had been willing to forget. I still was puzzled: I felt as if 'my other me' was coming back. I felt… fond of her; positive feelings, just to put it that way. I couldn't believe I actually felt something for Joanne.

"Maybe… he'll actually come back," I said simply, looking at her, "Joanne… I'm sorry."

Joanne raised her head to me and smiled for the first time in a good while. She knew what I was talking about, and she saw me smile. I did smile that time, and it was a different feeling. Joanne took me out of my thoughts when she called my name.

"Yes?" I said.

"Can you take off your shades? I'd like to see your eyes." I hesitated at first, but I accepted.

"I have an idea," I suddenly said, almost smiling, "Take them off yourself." I now smiled inwardly: it was funny for me to see her tense, "Go on," I urged her, and she raised her trembling hands. I closed my eyes as she took them, and then I opened them again, taking a better look at Joanne. She smiled again, "I guess it didn't hurt, now did it?" I asked, half coldly and half kindly. My kindness made me realise something: was I really in love again?

I then felt like a sudden urge to hold her close to me, I just couldn't resist it. It was a constant inner conflict between me and my conscious: I was surrendering to emotions! I wondered if I was losing myself, but if maybe it was actually good to feel different once in a while, I didn't know until now.

"Ha, luckily you still have the same eyes." She said. I looked at her, both coldness and fondness in my eyes, and I felt something I never imagined I would. Joanne's lips sealed mine, kissing them gently. It was a strange and pleasant feeling for me, something I liked. I felt her hand stoke my hair, and I buried my hand on her hair as my other hand took hers, yielding to temptation. When we broke away, I saw a tear run down her cheek and then, she hugged me. I satisfied my urge and held her delicately.

"God, I missed you…" she told me. I didn't say anything, but a smile appeared on my face. People say having somebody to love and care for makes you stronger, but I hadn't believed that. Yet I was wondering if it could actually happen.

Joanne made the gesture to speak again but I silenced her putting a finger on her lips. There was nothing to be said; my silence told her everything she needed and, laying a hand on her cold right cheek, it was me who gently leaned and kissed her again, driven by passion and the burning love that flowed through me. As I leaned in closer, Joanne gave in and came to lie beside me, both of us still kissing each other. Why had I lost control, I didn't know, but I let emotions take hold of me for the very first time. And it was so special I didn't feel like breaking away. Why had I lost control, I didn't know, but I let emotions take hold of me for the very first time. And it was so special I didn't feel like breaking away.


	14. Chapter 13: The Fight Inside

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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13

The fight inside

_Enemy, familiar friend  
My beginning and my end…_

Five days went by after the infiltration on the Agency's building and there weren't any problems since then. After settling in more properly, things seemed to ease up a bit. The tension disappeared and, as Albert could see, William was in a better mood, something that made him feel conflicted: he was aware of his light apprehension. Albert couldn't blame him, and he certainly couldn't let that affect him: he'd reach his goals, even if it meant sacrificing their friendship.

Albert also tried to stay out of Sherry's sight at all times, which brought him much closer to Joanne. He had the feeling she'd too be losing out because of the situation, so he tried to enjoy being with her to the extreme. They sometimes talked, others they stayed silent, needless to say anything. The times they talked, they tried to refresh each other's memory, trying to know where and when they had met, but all tries were still futile: no image, sentence or feeling would be evoked. Albert also told her about things he had kept to himself and she listened, most times awestruck, but her feelings for him still remained, just like it happened to Albert. She was too special to let go so simply… yet what about William?

Why did he feel so different when around him? Albert had spent most of his life sharing his friendship, William was special for him too, but it'd be really different from that point on. William's feelings would interfere with his, and Sherry was on the way too: she was the damper on their friendship. Albert was slowly starting to understand how he felt towards him, not to mention he was noticing a change in himself. _'You notice how much it hurts, right?'_ a voice said in the back of Albert's head, making the pain increase. He ignored it, but he couldn't ignore the pain. It was true: it hurt.

William, on his end, restlessly tried to convince Sherry about Albert's change, but she would always reply the same: she was scared to death. William certainly didn't want to hurt Albert, but he had to admit family was above everything else, something he began to have in mind all the time. He wouldn't commit the same mistake again. To make matters worse, he was doubtful about his own feelings. Albert's friendship was a truly special one and he didn't want to break the bond but, as always, he would have to choose. One way or the other, he'd end up losing something.

Also, during those days, Sherry had gotten used to feeling her body again. She hadn't lost knowledge of basic actions, but movements such as running and long jumping took her more time. That day, the sixth of March, Joanne and Sherry were training together outside in the backyard. The girl had liked Joanne since the first moment they talked and she had grown fond of her, and it was the same with Joanne. She wasn't trying to act as a surrogate mother, not at all, but after hearing about everything she had endured, Joanne felt she would need support.

While they were outside, Albert was watching them coldly, trouble by the conflict inside him. He was indeed turning too soft.

"Luckily everything went alright," William's voice startled him from behind. Albert calmly turned his head to him, "At first I thought you'd really give her up."

"I have my ways. Though I have to admit I was reckless."

William smiled, "Something rare of you," he teased; then, he grew serious, "Albert, you haven't felt odd these days, haven't you?"

"Your point?"

"I was wondering if you've had another fit of pain or you've heard the whistling again," William replied, sorting things out. Albert knew what he was hinting at.

"You fear something's up?" he asked. William nodded as an answer. Both turned their faces away, but Albert kept looking at his friend through the corner of his eye, "Tell me something: what do you plan to do after this is over?"

William was confused by his question and the time of asking, "I guess I'll just try to settle down again… and get Sherry to live _her_ life. She's shown me her interest in researches, but she won't even see a book of those. I don't want her taking the same steps as me." He replied, avoiding looking at him.

Albert couldn't help to smile weakly, "I thought so." He said.

"What about you?" William asked.

"I think it's too soon to talk about me. I still have matters to take care of." Albert had a plan to know how their friendship would evolve. He _wanted _to know because, in the case he was right, Albert already knew what to do, "Say, how's Sherry doing?"

William was again confused by his question, and evaded it with another, "Why do you ask?"

"I'm concerned, why else?" Albert said ironically.

"Thanks for the concern," William replied in the same ironic tone, but his voice was also tinged with anger. Albert smirked, obliviously for William.

"Well, I haven't seen her in five days, only you have. It's normal for somebody to worry after all she's gone through." Albert said hurting. William clenched his fists so hard his knuckles went white. What was up with Albert? Whatever the reason, William didn't care: he couldn't stand his strong irony. Albert now turned around fully and faced him, colder than even ice. William held his gaze against Albert's, refusing to lower his head.

"Your change has been for the worse, huh?" he then said, calmly. Then, he left the room, and Albert felt pain tug at his chest. But it'd be the best for everyone.

_If you only understood, William…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Have you collected the data?" The man asked Rachel through the radio with a slight Spanish accent. Rachel stifled a bored sigh.

"I haven't had the chance to get my hands on the files yet. It's just too complicated," she replied. The man chuckled.

"I thought there was nothing complicated for you," he mocked, and the other Rachel took over and spoke:

"_I wouldn't suggest teasing me. You want that data? Do us all the favour and wait. Or even better: if you want it, come and get it yourself._"

"No need to be so harsh, Rachel. But _I_ suggest you don't take too long." He said, not affected by Rachel's tone. Then, he hung up, so did Rachel.

"You really know how to sort this out, huh?" she asked out loud.

"_Of course I do. He's just a damned pain!_" she replied, smugly. Rachel smiled and went through the different dossiers, trying to find some clues before snatching the files on the Tyrant project for her superiors at the BDA. Unbeknownst to her, he already knew what she was up to, and he already had plans for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Joanne, I'm much better!" Sherry exclaimed giving a thumbs-up sign with both of her hands. Joanne smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that. You're doing really good." She replied. Sherry smiled and sat down next to her, her long blonde hair done braided.

"Say, how did you end up involved in this? I would recognise you if you were one of the researchers that held me."

"Don't say that, Sherry, I'd _never_ be like those sick bastards. And about how I got involved… it's kind of a long story, and I think you're not up to the challenge now." Joanne said.

"It's kind of long, she's right." Said William from behind them. Joanne and Sherry looked at him, Sherry's eyes gleaming with happiness like every time she saw him.

"Wow, we didn't expect you coming." Joanne said.

William shrugged, "I have the habit of popping up today," he said, a smile flickering across his face. Joanne smiled and William sat next to Sherry, feeling comforted beside her, "How's it going?" he asked then, trying to disguise his concern.

"If she doesn't move, it's just because she doesn't want to. She can do everything almost perfectly." Joanne replied. William smiled this time, put an arm around Sherry's shoulder and she leaned her head against his upper arm. Joanne's smile grew wider at the sight and her soul eased. She felt incredibly happy for both of them and prayed for them to be able to settle down. Then, a cool breeze started blowing, and Joanne felt that her prayers were answered. Though that joy didn't last for long.

Sherry felt as if a dagger pierced her chest from side to side; the pain spread through her whole body, numbing it. Then, another stab of pain at the nape of her neck, which was more painful than the other, and she felt a raging headache. Sherry widened her eyes in surprise and pain and she groaned, alerting William and Joanne. Sherry screamed through gritted teeth.

"Sherry, what's wrong!?" asked William at the top of his voice, placing himself in front of her. Sherry failed to answer and coughed up blood, two trickles of it exiting the corners of her mouth. _Internal bleeding? God, no!_, he thought, fear invading him. In that moment, her right arm started bleeding uncontrollably, the crimson liquid oozing from her pores and staining the steps. _What the…?_

Suddenly, Sherry screamed with all her strength, an unbearable pain coursing through her right arm. It was as if needles stabbed in endlessly, thousands of needles. The front side of her shoulder was gashed and her whole arm became limp.

"SHERRY!" Joanne screamed. William lifted her up in his arms and brought her inside as Joanne desperately looked for the medical kit. He pressed his hand against Sherry's bleeding wound and took her to the bathroom, where Joanne was readying everything. Sherry was losing her colour and her breathing was slower, like she had trouble. William laid her in the bathtub and helped Joanne stop the bleeding as fast as they both could. For the first time, William's hands trembled and he was filled up with fear and horror.

"Joanne, I'll… I'll take care of her." He said.

"Are you sure?" she asked, worried. William nodded and started cleaning the gash as carefully as he could. Joanne nodded, rinsed her hands and closed the door behind her. In that same instant, Albert landed next to her, tense.

"What's wrong?" he asked, panting slightly.

"I don't know what happened, but Sherry just started bleeding and a gash was inflicted on her shoulder. Nobody was with us except William." She explained sadly. Albert looked away, concerned, "You don't have anything to do with that, don't you?"

"I don't, I promise." He replied, making her distrust disappear.

"I'm sorry I asked," she said. Albert pulled her into a gentle embrace, and Joanne nestled her head against his shoulder, feeling Albert's hand stroke her hair.

"It doesn't matter. I understand." He said kindly. Joanne sighed, finding comfort in his arms, and she smiled feebly when Albert kissed her forehead. _I just can't help it. I love him, despite everything_, she thought, _I wonder if that's something suitable for me now._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(March 21__st__, 2005)_

Two weeks went by since the problem with Sherry. The girl took four days to recover fully, but every three days she had another fit of pain with more disastrous results than the last one. Until, one day, Sherry lost one of her arms. Due to the incredible pain and the rupture of the neuron's axons, the every nerve connected to her muscles broke, and her arm just hung limp beside her, uncontrolled. William didn't know the cause of it, but he was distraught and spent every second he could with Sherry, who had fallen in a prolonged state of unconsciousness. She woke up for very little and a little number of times, time she always used to console her father. Every day that went by, Sherry had more difficulty speaking, her energies were draining away and she lost the rosy tint of her cheeks.

_Damn it, Sherry, it's NOT alright!_, William thought tightening his grip around her hand. Joanne then went in and looked at William, who looked at her in return.

"How is she?"

"I'm… I'm okay." Sherry replied, waking from her slumber. William gasped and Joanne got closer to the bed she laid on, both of their gazes looking directly at Sherry.

The girl stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes with her movable hand, and she then sighed tiredly. Slowly, the colour of her cheeks and the lively gleam of her eyes returned, giving her a better appearance, but everything was faint.

"Huh? Why can't I move my arm? It won't respond!" she exclaimed making an effort to simply lift it.

"Sherry, you lost it." Said Joanne. Sherry gasped, tears welling up in her eyes.

"But how?"

Joanne pursed her lips and lowered her gaze. It was William who talked, "Something has been causing you fits of pain and, because of them, the neurons of your arm have been dying until the nerve was broken. It won't be reconstructed, I'm afraid. I don't know what caused you so much pain, Sherry." He told her, grief in his voice. Sherry looked away, full of sorrow, and looked at her arm.

"Don't worry, dad." She simply said. William clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, leaning his elbows on his knees and holding his head with both hands. Joanne could sense his pain and she hesitantly laid a hand on his shoulder. William calmed down quickly and gently shook Joanne's hand off.

"It's alright." He said and he exited the room.

"She hasn't taken it very well, has she?" asked Albert from next to him. William shot him a furious look, something that utterly surprised Albert. Yet it wasn't the reaction that surprised him, but the amount of burning hate in his blue eyes. Albert was used to be hated, as he had already had somebody who already did, but he never imagined to see a kind person like William harbour hate.

"Don't ask about her well-being again. It was your fault this happened in the first place!" William exclaimed, "What if I did that to Joanne, huh?" Albert frowned at his callous remark, "You'd kill me, right?" William continued, "I can't believe it myself, but I'm beginning to hate you."

"Then why are you still here? Why haven't you killed me already? If you did the same to Joanne, I wouldn't hesitate." Albert replied coldly.

"Because, as you can expect, I've never wanted to hurt you! But then you go and stab me in the back! Was it because I was out of the way?"

"That's the bad thing about being kind: you _never_ want to hurt people, let alone if they are close to you," said Albert, evading his question. William scoffed.

"Look who's talking now." Albert restrained himself.

"Don't get Joanne into this." He hissed. William chuckled bitterly.

"It's a pretty ironic situation for us both, wouldn't you say?" he asked, nonchalantly.

---

From inside the room, Joanne and Sherry were hearing their argument. Both of them listened appalled, and Joanne hugged Sherry, who was blaming herself.

"They're arguing because of me! Me!" she cried. Joanne didn't find any words to console her, only the will to blame herself too. They were the dampers. Joanne let a tear run down her cheek.

---

Albert held an impassive countenance but much to his surprise, he was falling apart on the inside. It hurt him so much to be arguing, and he was to blame for it. Albert walked up and stood beside William, both facing different directions.

"Too bad this has to end." He said, letting William know what he was referring to.

"I quote you: 'Get used to the idea'." William replied cold as ice. It was like a cold bucket of water for Albert, like a splinter digging deeper into his heart. Albert slowly went up the stairs and disappeared from William's sight. Once he heard Albert closing the door, he collapsed to his knees, excruciating pain torturing him. He sat on the floor against the wall, legs tucked in and forearms on his knees. He leaned his head forward and his bangs shadowed his eyes.

And a sorrowful tear ran down his cheek.

Albert made his decision.


	15. Chapter 14: Just another tool

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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14

Just another tool

Rachel drummed her fingers on the table as she looked at the computer screen. _Man, the download is taking too long…_, she thought, annoyed. She was copying the files on the computer to a small USB disk, which would be easy to conceal and hardly noticeable. What she didn't notice was somebody sneaking inside as silent as a shadow.

"_Rachel, something's wrong!_" her other self told her, alarmed. Rachel turned around, and the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the butt of a weapon go for her left temple.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(That night…)_

The stars gleamed strongly above the city, making the sky an enjoyable sight. It reminded him of the long walks he went on during his days with Umbrella; he always liked to stop for a few seconds at stare at the canopy of heaven. That night, Albert wasn't up for it, but he was getting ready for something else. He loaded both of his guns and strapped his double shoulder holster around his chest, placing the guns in them afterwards. Lastly, he concealed a knife inside the leg of his combat boot and wore his long trench coat. Albert took one last gander at the shining canopy and he turned around, only to find Joanne standing at the door, the moonlight making her skin acquire an ash grey colour.

"Where are you going?" she asked stepping closer, a frown on her face. Albert sighed and slowly walked past her, but Joanne firmly gripped his wrist, "Don't shut me out. Please, tell me."

"Would it suffice if I told you I'm leaving to help?" He asked.

"You've told me 'why', but I'm asking 'where'." She insisted facing him. Albert looked at her intensely.

"Some things are better left unsaid, Joanne," he told her again, "However, I need to ask you a favour." Joanne wasn't satisfied with his reply, but she knew not to insist, and nodded, agreeing, "Promise you won't come after me." Joanne was surprised by both the favour and Albert's voice tone: categorical and cold. She lowered her head, sad. Albert couldn't help feeling a tad of sympathy for her, like another stone breaking the ice, but it wouldn't affect him.

"Who're you going to help if you leave?" Joanne asked.

"I'll make things easier for everyone. You'll soon see why." He simply replied. Joanne blushed slightly, and she thanked it was dark enough for it to go unnoticed.

"Well, you can expect me to miss you." She said. Tempted, Albert stroked Joanne's cheek with the back of his fingers, but there was no affection in that gesture, as Joanne could feel, only coldness. She lifted her head now, trying to control her nerves. Albert caught the message in her eyes, and a smile flickered across his features.

"Don't expect me to come back." Joanne was taken aback by those words. After all that time away from each other and now he was leaving?

She was just about to get angry but, in the first place, it wouldn't make any sense; and second, Albert had told her it was for a good cause… or was it? Joanne already knew of his ambitious self, maybe it was just to obtain a spoil, yet she couldn't help but to stick to the thought of the good reason.

"In that case… may I?" she asked in a thin voice. Albert remained silent, sometimes his usual way of saying 'yes'. Besides, he wouldn't refuse to receive one last kiss from her, yet he didn't feel the same. Both leaned in and their lips touched again for a short moment. Albert was the one who drew back, annoyed by his own gestures. Joanne was deeply hurt. Why the change? Was it because of the argument he'd had? She didn't find out, as in a tense silence, Albert went down the stairs and Joanne heard the door close behind him. A tear welled up in her eye, but she held it back, showing no sign of weakness. _This is what happens when you trust this kind of people._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert was welcomed outside by a soft blizzard. The whole ground was covered in snow and snowflakes danced around him in the night wind. _It'll be better if I take the 'high way'_, he thought. Albert grabbed hold of the pipe attached to the wall and pushed himself to the roof. He landed on the edge with a soft thud and he stared at the city, engulfed by the blizzard. He suddenly felt a tad nervous, but he had to do it, for his own good and, almost most importantly, William's. Partly, Albert had him in mind, but his ambition overwhelmed his feelings… just like it was meant to be. Albert started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading for his destination.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rachel woke up with a start, only to find out she was tied with ropes and was floating. She suddenly realised: she was inside a research water tank. She panicked, losing her calmness, and kicked the wall with all her strength, but no scratch was inflicted, not even with the tip of her sturdy boot. Rachel felt her lungs ache from the lack of oxygen, but the organism inside her replenished it. She tried kicking it again, grunting and letting out puffs of much needed air, yet there was nothing she could do despite her efforts. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain and as if she was electrocuted, and Rachel was rendered helpless. Surprisingly, she didn't drown but was at the edge of falling unconscious. Rachel regained her energies slowly and, when the lights turned on, she swivelled around and caught glimpse of a familiar face: D.

Rachel widened her eyes in surprise and a bit of water entered her nose, but she didn't notice or care. D stood firmly at the door, an evil smirk on his handsome face. He was alone, something pretty odd of him. Rachel frowned at him fiercely in a menacing way, yet she was confused. She hadn't got quite the number of chances to look closely at his face, but now that she did, she found it strangely familiar.

"I think you're not in the best position to throw me menacing glares, Rachel." He simply said walking up to the front side of the tank. Rachel followed him around until they were face to face, "I also think you know what got you in this kind of trouble." He continued. D saw Rachel frown again, this time confusedly.

"I know what you're up to, and I'm certainly not going to let you get away with it." D said getting closer. _Shit! He knows about my involvement with the BDA! Oh God, he knows!_, Rachel cursed, realising it. She widened her eyes in surprise and D smirked knowingly, "Just as I predicted. And to make sure you don't thwart my plans anymore, I have something prepared for you."

Suddenly, Rachel felt a weak pang of pain on her nape, just like a cold needle, and she decided not to move. D stood right in front of her, only separated by the thick glass between them, "You're going to enjoy it, dear sister." He said, smiling evilly. Rachel felt her soul fall apart: it was impossible! D couldn't possibly be Edward! D's smirk widened.

"That's right, Rachel. Remember Edward D. Ellis?" he asked. Rachel let out a grunt in surprise, bubbles climbing up to the top. It was impossible for Rachel to feel her tears, but her throat knotted. She stared at her younger brother, whose eyes flickered with awe. Rachel was speechless, confused, angry and glad to see him alive, "Rachel, do you want to know why I've changed before I continue?" Rachel suddenly remembered the pang and nodded, panic-stricken. D locked eyes with her and his expression changed, as if feeling remorse.

"Remember my disappearance two years ago? I was abducted by Wesker himself for one of his twisted experiments and, as you can expect, I died, just like everybody else did. Yes, I seem to remember he had kidnapped other people for that. But how could I come back, you must be wondering. Somebody found my body and experimented with it; they took away my humanity by planting something into my body and reconstructing it. They also changed my image... that's why I don't look like the Edward you know, but the thing is that I'm still him.

"Although I don't know who modified me, I know I'm driven by hate! And I completely hate Wesker for what he did to me; I hate him with all my might!! And now I find out my sister is working leaking out information for a company! It's just unbelievable, Rachel! Now you're going to pay for it and you're going to suffer, just like I have."

D walked to the door and Rachel quickly turned around, breaking the ropes that held her. She kicked again, furious, but a sudden wave of pain paralysed her body and made her scream. Rachel took her hands to her nape and tried pulling out the device piercing her flesh, but it was futile. She felt something enter her body, agile as a parasite… and that was exactly what entered.

"_Rachel, fight it! I can't stand it!_" her other self complained, much to Rachel's surprise, but she just gave in, unable to stand it. The parasite took control of her mind, her body and in just a couple of seconds, she was no longer a human.

Just an ordinary BOW.

D turned around as the water drained and Rachel fell onto the cold floor, breathing heavily. He quickly returned to her side and kneeled in front of her, close enough for Rachel to fix her eyes upon him. What she saw left her amazed: her brother's eyes were completely white, just revealing an ivory-coloured iris that stared directly at hers, piercing, cold and frightening.

"Tell me, Rachel," D slowly said, "How does it feel to be dead?"

Rachel's breathing sped up and she again widened her eyes, this time in pain. She had been reborn as another person… as another tool.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert peeked around the door, crouching, and quickly surveyed the hall for any enemies or people; fortunately, there weren't any, and he quickly crossed it. He knew exactly where he had to head to accomplish his goal, so he took a turn to the right and followed the red lights that gleamed feebly at the baseboard. Suddenly, the sound of voices reached his keen hearing and Albert hid behind a corner. He leaned to the left and noticed two people talking in front of the hall he'd come from.

"Do you really think that'll do?" one of them asked. Albert recognised the other's voice.

"I do, as simple as that." D replied bluntly, leaving. Albert frowned. _What can they be talking about? Hm, no room for distractions now_, he thought as he turned around. As he did, he caught glimpse of somebody in front of him and quickly took out his Beretta, aiming at the stranger in front of him. Albert was and wasn't surprised to see who she was.

"Long time, no see." Ada said calmly, holding her gun firmly.

"I hoped this moment would never come," Albert replied impassively.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing that would interest you, Miss Wong." Ada pulled the trigger and the bullet almost grazed Albert's head, who ducked just in time. Right after that, he sent a low kick to her shin. Ada backed away, just what Albert wanted; in that same instant, Albert started running away as fast as his legs allowed him and avoided a small number of bullets Ada fired. Through the corner of his eye, he saw her take an alternative route to catch him, and he smiled evilly, planning her to lure her into his trap.

Ada heard a door slam and she followed the noise, convinced it would be Wesker. Apprehensively, she slowly opened the door, gun at the ready, and her raven eyes scanned the room quickly. In the first place, she looked behind the door, although she knew Wesker wouldn't be so stupid to hide behind it. Stepping in carefully, looking in all directions, Ada spotted a shadow at the corner of the room through the corner of her eye and she swivelled around, keeping her calm. Albert wasn't there, and Ada kept advancing through the aisle, her senses sharper every second.

But, as it seemed, it wasn't enough.

Ada heard a hiss behind her; she turned around, but there was nothing. She found out what it was the same moment she looked at the front again: four Lickers. They all knew where she was: her scent was unmistakeable. Ada knew she was lost. _How the hell did they get in here?_, she asked herself, trying to find a way to escape. She suddenly remembered: her trusty grapple gun was always at hand. She drew it and fired, climbing to the ceiling just when the Licker's tongues darted towards her neck. Ada swung herself behind a desk and ducked, though it wouldn't make a lot of difference since she had already been heard. The woman looked at the door, where she found Wesker's silhouette in the shadows.

"I hope they entertain you, Miss Wong." He said evilly. As Ada sprinted across the room to get to the door in time, a Licker got in her way; Ada fired at it, but it wasn't even fazed. However, Ada used the moments it recoiled to run around it and head towards the door again. Not losing her hope, Ada pushed herself to the extreme, demanding her legs to make her go much faster and she caught glimpse of the door closing. The moment she raised her head, she felt something wrap itself around her waist and, shocked, she knew it was a tongue from one of the Lickers. It drew back, opening a huge gash around her waist and knocking her to the floor. Ada couldn't hold back a pain cry as her whole body burned with pain, a pool of blood spread around her and her vision blurred. She grunted when another tongue pierced her arm and the Lickers' scent entered her nose. The Lickers, her end, were close, and there was nothing she could do. For the first time, Ada panicked, as the fingers of death reached for her soul.

And they took it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_I know this place better than you do, I'm afraid. _

Albert was already a few metres away from the door when everything was happening. The time Ada had taken to reach him, Albert had taken it to release the few Lickers kept away in an adjacent room for research. He knew she wouldn't stand a chance against all of them, though he had to admit she'd fight bravely to make it out. Nevertheless, she wasn't good enough. Once this secondary objective of his was achieved, he headed for a pair of elevators down the hall; there, he would find the way to reach the underground research dome, the place where he'd find his long-sought spoils.

Suddenly, Albert felt a too strong pain through his shoulder, which left him dazed. _Have I just been shot?_ He staggered forward shortly and drew out his gun, but whoever shot him fired again, this time hitting his lower arm and making Albert drop his weapon. Surprisingly, the bullets hurt a lot, too much, and they were causing Albert to lose focus, causing his body to get number by the second and his vision to blur. Making one last effort, he quickly recovered the gun and fired, trying to adjust his eyes in the correct direction. Luckily, he heard a scream in pain: he had hit his target just as he, their target, was hit again, this time in his other shoulder. With pain invading his body, Albert hit the wall and fell, unable to command his body anymore. _Come… on, curse it!_, he thought, trying to make himself move. The last thing he saw was a fist coming right to his face, and the whole world went black.


	16. Chapter 15: Intervention

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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15

Intervention

Pain was what woke him up. _What an almighty headache… what the heck did they inject me with? For my body to be… ugh… so numb… I'm simply not in the mood even to think. _Albert slowly opened his eyes, everything blurry around him. It took him much longer than expected to feel his body again, which didn't respond no matter how hard he tried to move even a finger. He tried to adjust his vision upon the ceiling but he still felt too bad to. Once again, Albert tried as he flexed one knee to sit up but he suddenly felt sick and he coughed, as trying gave him slight nausea. _How long have I been here?_

He found himself in a small room, windowless and lit only by a small light bulb above him; to his right, Albert caught sight of an empty shelf. _I'm probably in a store room,_ he thought as everything started working again. He soon started to feel the cold floor under him, to see more clearly and to hear as keenly as always. Albert felt chilly: his shirt had been removed and bandages had replaced it, wrapped around his shoulders, right arm and abdomen. He sprang to his feet with difficulty and lifted the bandages there, seeing the hole the bullet had made; more surprisingly, from side to side. _Nice reminder I'll have in here_, he thought, ironic,_ Who's healed me, I wonder, and why. _As he wondered about the whole situation, Albert clicked his tongue in annoyance: because of the humid ambient, his trousers stuck uncomfortably to his legs.

_I was too careless; they must've known I was coming all along, but… it's been almost a month since we had any problems. That must mean the devices were shut off, but why? _Albert looked up as questions roamed his mind and he frowned, _Okay, they're keeping a really close eye on me. Like it or not, I'll have to stay put._ Somebody watched him through the cameras, and Albert suspected that somebody would be D. Who else? Albert suddenly felt a pinch of pain in every injured spot and, surprisingly, nothing hurt afterwards. He smiled inwardly, _I'm set. Let's just see what I can do._

He heard steps approaching; he could make out they were three people. A frown appeared on his face and raised his guard, fearing the worst. Suddenly, the lights turned up, and darkness consumed the room. _Whoops, _he couldn't avoid thinking,_ I would now appreciate seeing in the dark_. Albert raised his arms and shielded his face and exactly a second later, he felt a fist go for his left cheekbone. His jaw clenched as he collided against the wall, receiving a blow on the head in the process. As he received an uppercut right in the chin, he bumped his head again, making it feel just like a drum. _As if I didn't have enough!_, he complained inwardly, dazed. Unfortunately, he was still too slow to react properly. The light was turned on and off in a bright flash, enough to blind Albert. One of the people in there yanked at his hair and made him bend backwards, ready to strike square in his stomach.

Instantly, Albert's heart beat faster than ever before and adrenaline flowed through his veins as if he had just received a huge shot of it.

Trusting his now-working instincts, Albert scratched the person's hand as hard as he could and, after feeling his grip loosen, he kneed him right in the side; then, he hit him under his ribcage with the butt of his hand. In that moment, the lights turned on and Albert was seized from behind but he frenziedly struck his attacker in the bridge of the nose with the back of his head. Right when he was set free, Albert turned around, his fist ready to strike. But Albert's head instantly started throbbing in pain, as if it was hit over and over again. Everything around him started spinning and he breathed unusually heavily. He knew what it was: the device. Every single sound became louder, causing him another headache. As Albert gripped his head with both hands, a sturdy hand grabbed hold of his throat and pinned him against the wall, threatening to break his neck in that instant.

"That's enough," a familiar voice said from the door. Everyone, except Albert, turned their heads to where the voice came from, and the man holding Albert hesitated at first, "I said that's enough," the newcomer insisted, coldly. Albert was released but was seized again by his arms as he tried to recover his breath. His eyes met D's, white as snow and cold as ice. The young man's face was completely impassive, but there was a hint of disdain in his ivory irises. D entered the room.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" he sneered as he saw Albert's grimaces. The pain slowly faded away, but a small amount of it pulsed in the back of Albert's head, not willing to go, "What did you want now?" D asked then. Albert didn't respond and held his eyes against D's, breathing slowly. Seeing Albert wouldn't talk, D crossed his arms across his chest, patient.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(March 22__nd__, 2005. 09:23 am)_

"He's gone?" asked William, not believing Sherry's words. She nodded and went upstairs, followed closely by William. They both reached Albert's room and indeed, there was no sign of him. For just a moment, William felt a pinch of concern in his chest, but he just frowned in complete indifference, "Well, good riddance," he said just as Joanne closed in. She stifled a gasp, but looked at him in disbelief.

"You're unbelievable." She just said. William grunted, annoyed, and quickly went down the stairs.

"Joanne, just leave it alone."

"I repeat: you're _unbelievable_." She reiterated. William turned around and faced her as she got down, his eyes sparkling with anger.

"What? What do you want me to say, huh? You expect me to be concerned?" he asked. Joanne frowned.

"At least, I expected you to be considerate," she replied, "Doesn't he mean anything to you?"

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, but I'm not regretting my decisions; not after all he's put Sherry through," William's frown deepened. Joanne had an idea of what was happening: deep inside, she knew William still cared.

"Admit it: you still care for him." She said, crossing her arms. William clenched his fist and looked at her.

"You don't know me." He shot back bluntly.

"Well, like it or not, I know you do care. Didn't you say your friendship was a special thing?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_Albert put his hand on William's shoulder. "When you start questioning your own ability, then I guess I'm going to have to question my own. After all, you are the better half of the team, correct?"_

_William smiled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right."_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It indeed is, and that's why-"

"That's why you have to go and help him!" Joanne chimed in, crossly, "Because, for your information, he's actually doing it for you, you know, to help." Joanne didn't care if she had given herself away.

"Oh, you did catch him before he left, huh? Are you sure he didn't mean 'to help himself'?" Joanne's eyebrows rose and her mouth formed a small 'O'.

"How can you be so blind?"

William couldn't take it anymore, "Look, I don't need to be listening to you right now. Besides, what do you know about us? Tell me, what?!" he said in complete anger, "You don't know how it feels to have somebody stab you in the back after all the time we've been together. I actually trusted him, even with my life. I admit it, he's always had his bitterness in him, we've acted through life coldly quite a number of times, but he too had his point! I actually thought I was a friend to him and indeed, he told me once, and I knew he was being sincere. But that's when I made my mistake: he took my daughter just when I was out of the way, because he knew I wouldn't let him. I can't forgive him, not after what he's done! Do you simply expect me to forget it that easily?"

Joanne was left without words for a moment. But she too had her arguments, "I certainly don't know how it feels. Nevertheless, let me tell you, and you know already, that I met Albert long before you did. You have your point: he has his bitterness, but I knew the moment he closed the door right in front of me that he was doing it for a good cause, because he doesn't want to see you suffer."

"Damned good job he's done," William said disdainfully. Joanne sighed.

"Yeah, he should've thought twice. Please, William, listen to me and reconsider. If there's nobody else important in his life, who would he think about? Everything makes sense: he wants to help _you_, you and Sherry."

"Really?" William said with sarcasm. Joanne stood firm.

"Yes, really, no need to be sarcastic. You know, I consider a pity that you weren't with us the moments we talked; that way, you would've thought about this again. And since you weren't, let me tell you: you can't imagine how sincere he was with me about you."

"Joanne, you don't have to tell me this to-"

"_Shut_ up and listen," she interrupted, bluntly, "Out of what he told me about you and where he left, something he actually hinted at, I say again he's doing it for you. You're too special for him and he's trying to make amends. Isn't it worth giving him a chance?"

William looked away, thinking about Joanne's words. What if Albert actually had left to help him? What if what Joanne said was true? No matter how much he denied it, Joanne was right: William still cared for Albert. Now that he realised it, he had just contradicted himself: if their friendship was too special indeed, why was he walking away? Why was he turning his back to Albert? William couldn't help it: just like Albert had said, he was too kind and never liked to hurt people, let alone hurt himself. Albert's friendship was the thing he had treasured the most.

On the other hand, he was still too angry at him. He couldn't get out of his head the single fact Albert had waited for him to die and then take Sherry. Friends or not, that had been something vile coming from him. Remembering his words, he actually knew he had meant it: how would Albert feel if he had done something like that to Joanne, someone who was important for him? _Family comes first, that's for sure, but…_, he thought, in complete awe, _Albert was like the only family I had… Yeah, I know, I'm getting sentimental here and it's just embarrassing, but I can't contradict myself any longer. _

"We're poles apart… and those sometimes can be united," William reasoned under his breath, "You should really have been a psychologist, you know that?" William said half teasingly, half apologetically. His eyes met Joanne's, who chuckled sadly.

"Have you thought about it?"

William nodded weakly, "Yeah, and I've finally realised. I'm just like a rope, pulled by both sides. I guess my bright side has finally won. Anyway, enough with metaphors…" William let his voice fade away. Joanne sighed again, sympathetic.

"You don't have to apologise to me, but to Albert, once we get him out of the mess he's gotten himself into." Joanne smiled, which brought a feeble smile to William's face. Joanne's eyes lightened up with kindness and she laid a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, William saw a figure sitting at the stairs, and both turned their heads to see Sherry, a surprised expression on her face.

"You're actually going, dad?"

"And since when have you been there?"

Sherry looked away, "Not for long." Sadness took hold of her and she let out a sigh as her hair shadowed her lowered head. William frowned concernedly and placed himself in front of his daughter. Kindly, he put her fringe behind her ear and lifted her chin. When he gazed into her eyes, he found them like two voids filled with sadness. Sherry saw his concern.

"I'm not mad at you, dad, because I understand. I'm just a damper."

"Don't you dare say that, Sherry!" William replied, dumbstruck, "You've never been a damper, and you'll _never, ever_ be."

"But because of me, you hate Wesker, and I know how important he is for you!" she said, looking at him straight in the eye. Joanne didn't see William's words coming.

"I don't hate him… now. Don't you worry, Sherry. Never think about yourself that way, have I made myself clear?" William ordered, his voice authoritative. Sherry's expression changed as William's hardened, clearly upset. She nodded and then, William smiled, "Joanne, do you know where Albert is?"

"My guess is that he's gone to the Agency's building again." She replied. William sprang upright, his eyes full of determination.

"Right. I'm going to go and see; we'll keep in touch by radio, okay?" Joanne nodded, agreeing to stay with Sherry. She was definitely in no condition to leave and William wouldn't endanger her anymore.

"You also have a radio?" Joanne asked, raising her brow.

"Ha, we're always ready for anything." He replied with a chuckle as he handed Joanne an earphone. William packed his Glock and some magazines, without the slightest doubt he would encounter something roaming the place. _It's kind of strange, not to say ironic: the person that has hurt me the most is who I appreciate a lot. I must be crazy; then again, I can't say I don't care for him. That's it, conflict solved,_ he thought.

Sherry watched him with a knot in her stomach, and tears welled up in her eyes. She was worried sick about William: what if he actually didn't return? Without hesitating, she stood up and hugged William tightly, who replied to her gesture with another warm hug.

"Come back in one piece, okay?"

William looked up to Joanne, who stood firmly with both her eyes staring into his. _Here is another important person…_He nodded, convinced of his actions. A smile flickered across his face. Without anything else, he left after taking his coat.

The same blizzard that welcomed Albert welcomed him, as if danger was just saying 'hello'. William felt another pinch of pain in his chest and, without losing another second, he plunged in to rescue his friend. _I guess I can use that term again now. Hang on!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh, you now care for him and his daughter? I can't believe you actually do, not after you put her through."

"Don't exclude yourself," Albert shot back. After replying to D's question, he just felt like a weakling, but why deny the truth? He had gone in to deactivate Sherry's device and, with that, completely disappear of William's sight. He wasn't going to bear with the pain and the regret, a feeling that had risen up since the moment William had asked about his daughter.

"Bah, but I'm sure you came here for something else, did ya? Anyway-" D was interrupted by a thug that whispered something into his ear. A smirk spread across D's face, something that gave Albert a very bad feeling, "Ho, mr. Birkin's timing is _really_ good." Albert couldn't stifle a gasp. _That fool! He can't be actually coming here!_, he thought, "I actually have something planned for him already."

"Don't you lay a finger on him, you bastard!" Albert said, raising his voice in anger. D's smirk widened and he turned around. In that instant, the bulkiest guard's knee dug right under Albert's ribs, and he coughed up blood and saliva. Gasping for breath, he fell onto the floor when released, and weakly raised his head to see everyone leaving. D was the one who remained a few seconds at the threshold, a fierce and killer look on his snowy eyes. He then spoke venomously, letting all of his hate tinge his words.

"You shall see, Wesker, and you won't be able to do anything to stop one thing or the other."


	17. Chapter 16: A hard choice

**Author's Note:** Finally I update. It's kinda been a long while, time I've taken to correct my Chronicles stories and such. I warn you again, you're going to find some spoilers in these for RE5, so stay put if you don't want anything. I surely don't want to lose anybody because of the spoilers, it's just that I pretty much know the whole game. Anyway, enjoy!^^

**Dislcaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

**Special thanks to Divine Arion for her amazing support.** (You'd better go out check out her fics. Do it! xDDD)

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16

A hard choice

William pushed himself to the limit, until he felt as if his legs were screaming at him to stop. He had already tested the radio and, luckily, it worked perfectly. He prayed for Sherry to be alright whilst he was gone and nothing else to happen to her. _Well, the sooner we get out, the sooner you'll see her…_, he thought as he jumped from wall to wall and climbed to the top of the building. William stopped for exactly two seconds and then jumped off the building, landing on a good pile of snow. In no time, he was back on his feet, catching glimpse of the enemy's building. _I don't know why but I have the feeling Albert's in real trouble. I just hope I'm wrong._ He had tried a few times to contact him mentally, but no response.

Suddenly, William heard some piercing screeches coming from up ahead and he saw two Hunters lunging furiously at him. _Just what I needed now_. Then, his mind and body acted the opposite: his mind told him to back away, his body kept going straight at the creatures. Just as the Hunters leaped towards him, talons at the ready, William threw himself to the ground and skidded right under them, avoiding at all costs to get hit. The Hunters landed and William sprang to his feet at the same time, and he kept running to the building, to which he was slowly getting closer. _Whoa, I didn't think it'd work!_, he said to himself looking back.

One of the Hunters quickly caught up to him and threw itself forward in an attempt to hit him. William was far enough to avoid a huge gash; still, he felt the creature's talons slash his calf, and he cried in pain as he hit the ground. The snow became stained by his blood, which just excited the Hunters even more. William quickly crawled away, leaving a trail of blood behind him, and one of the Hunter's shadow cast upon him, making fear spread through him like a wave. In a quick movement and flowing into a fright, he snatched his weapon and aimed instinctively at the Hunter's skull; fortunately for him, the Hunter recoiled and screamed in agony as the bullet pierced its head, spreading blood around it. The second one didn't hesitate to claim the prize and this one was the pain in the neck.

William fired at it but it quickly jumped to the side and dodged. William stood up with difficulty, feeling his leg better, and limped away from it as fast as he was able to. The Hunter leaped at him again and swung its claw; he dodged it and fell again. Without wasting any other second, William fired again, this time hitting it twice in the chest and a third one in the skull, though that last shot took longer. He lay on the ground, catching his breath and easing his nerves.

"**William, are you alright?**" asked Joanne, concern in her voice.

"Yeah, fortunately. They know I'm here already."

"**Heads up, then.**"

"Joanne, try to log in into the server. It'll be a good help if you can find a map of the building," William said as he stood up on his bad leg. It fortunately didn't hurt much; still, the wounds hadn't closed yet. _I guess it must be because I'm mostly human. A two-sided matter, I suppose._

"**Sorry, but I can't find anything. Darn it…**" said Joanne. William frowned in annoyance.

"Okay, at least you tried. I'll try the trapdoor again."

And so, William limped to the back of the building, fearing Albert was in trouble. When he reached the spot, he cleared the snow out of the way, opened it and found himself face to face with danger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Who sent the Hunters out there?" asked D, holding back his anger.

"I did," A red-haired replied simply. D scowled at him. _Fool… Truth be told, I never spoke about my plans_, D said to himself.

"I need him alive, so _stay put_." He ordered bluntly. The man nodded and resumed his work, concentrated. D then turned his attention to his partner, "The signals are all still active, are they?"

"Yes, want me to send in a team?"

"No, don't hurt Dawson or Birkin's daughter. I have special plans for them," he said, grinning evilly. D's partner frowned, _To be so young, he can sometimes give you quite the scare_, "Go and get Wesker. Bring him here," he then heard D say. He motioned for three to follow him and the man left the room.

D clenched his right fist, the hidden one, feeling thrilled. One way or the other, both would end up losing something, just like he did. That thought made his feelings stir and mix with his hatred, clashing against each other as if in a war. He lost his humanity, because of his weakness; he lost his sister, because of his anger… But he didn't regret his actions towards Rachel: siblings love each other, they don't betray the other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert woke up by a nasty itchy feeling in his throat. The burning feeling increased and he was obliged to cough. He felt something warm raise up and he was surprised to see what it was when it stained his hand: a silver liquid rested upon his palm and fingertips. He suddenly felt his body freer and everything worked correctly now. _I have the feeling this might have been what they've shot me. No wonder I felt so bad_, he reasoned.

Albert pressed on his right shoulder's bullet wound and tensed his muscles painlessly. His body was in a perfect condition. _Let's see if I can pull a good fight now, in case they try_, he smiled to himself. Much to his surprise, there was a shard of glass nearby, of about eighteen centimetres and glancing at his watch around his left wrist, he quickly snatched it and planned to hide it in the inside part of his forearm. Luckily, he could feel its tip on the palm of his hand, so if things lead to harsh negotiations, he'd have something to defend himself at hand, aside from his superhuman abilities. He noticed something else: his eyes were back to 'normal'.

The door's handle suddenly turned with a creak and Albert quickly lifted his head. His eyes moved to every single man that entered, a menacing gleam in them. Without a word, one of them motioned with his head at the exit, telling Albert to leave. Unfortunately, he was in no state to protest or refuse, so he did as told; the same moment he had crossed the threshold, the guards placed themselves around him, leaving him to room to make an escape. _Just as I predicted. This time, I'll just have to solve any problems as I go along. _

They walked for quite a short time until they reached the elevator that would take them to D. In those moments, he tried contacting William, but got no answer from him, as if he had blocked his mind. _He probably has_, Albert thought, _He must've tried too, but I didn't reply. _A minute later, they were in front of a sliding door that opened instantly, and Albert found himself in a circular room, dark and full of computer panels, camera screens and a radar. One of the monitors gave him a bad feeling: three red dots were displayed on it. D turned around and welcomed him with a scowl. _God, I hate having to do this!_, Albert thought as they cuffed him and brought him down to his knees, _Only my pride is hurt, however._

"Relax and forget about everything. Thank I was considerate enough to let you in and enjoy." He said with a smirk. His white eyes fixed upon Albert's, disdainful. Albert's heart skipped a beat when the monitor showed William running down the hall. _He actually came!_, he thought, _Is he crazy? Damn, you sure can't trust women! _Albert looked menacingly at D, who already had his back turned to him. Through the monitors, he watched William reach the end of the hall and come to a halt. He looked in both directions, clearly doubtful. Just when he had just taken a step forward, D pushed a button and spoke through the microphone.

"Well, well, who do we have here?"

William came to a halt again, "Show yourself, you coward!"

D laughed, "Watch what you're saying or somebody will end up bad…" He replied, callously hinting. William's face was then a mask of shock.

"You wretched… where's Albert?!" he asked, his voice unusually booming through the hall. D smirked again, _Here comes the good part._ The man stepped away from the microphone just a few inches and, raising his voice, he began to pace from one side to the other, arms crossed across his chest.

"You sick, twisted…" muttered Albert under his breath. Fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, one of the guards heard him and again yanked at Albert's hair, pulling stronger than before. Albert let out a short exclamation, though it was loud enough for William to hear, who gasped and clenched his fists.

"Oh, you don't need to worry." D sneered.

"Like I'll believe that. Don't you dare hurt him!" William shot back. Albert was shocked, but didn't show it. Since when was William on good terms with him?

"Aw, c'mon, you'll soften Mr. Wesker's personality with your remarks. And he certainly doesn't want to appear weak… or, at least, that's what he's showing." The hatred and evilness in D's words was incredible. D gazed back at Albert, that expressed calmness, yet his body gave his emotions away, "In any case, now that you're here, Mr. Birkin-"

"You can swallow back that false politeness!" William interrupted, tired of his mocking tones.

"Oh, feisty, eh?" D remarked. His comment made William's body fill up with anger, "As I was saying, I have a proposition for you. Since you obviously came here to rescue your _friend_," he tinged 'friend' sardonically, "You can always go back with him, though I'm afraid you'll have to choose this time."

"**William, watch it!**" said Joanne from the other side. William didn't need to be reminded; the situation was too tense to make any mistakes.

"I know, Joanne," he replied, slight annoyance in his voice, "And what's that proposition?" He asked then. D smirked and raised the cover above a pair of buttons and, anxious to press them both, he had to lick his upper lip to restrain his desire.

"His or hers to save, and by this I mean that I have here two… 'cords', to put it like that, that resemble your friend's and your daughter's life." D said. Albert and William both gasped at the same time, and fear took over both of them this time. _How can this bastard do this?!_, Albert thought. His eyes didn't deceive him: William's hands were clearly shaking. Tension would take the best of them.

"No… no!" William begged, a huge lump forming in throat, "Not Sherry; please not her! Damn it, not them!" Much to his despair, he heard his daughter shout in fear through the radio, which only made his body be paralysed in complete horror. _I… I can't decide! I can't have them killed!_

"I can cut one or I can cut the other: it's your decision to make," D continued, "As you might have foreseen, I wasn't going to let you go with a double prize… or did you actually expect that? You're lucky; I'm a patient man, so I'll give you plenty of time to decide. Be warned though, everyone's patience has a limit." With that, William heard a 'click' and knew D wasn't listening anymore.

Right afterwards, his legs felt weaker than ever and his heart hurt excruciatingly as pain tugged at it over and over again. William fell to his knees, consumed by nervousness and grief. What to do now? He wouldn't choose any of them, but if he didn't, D would choose in his place and, out of retaliation, William knew D wouldn't hesitate to kill them both. A tear streamed down his cheek, and he felt adrift in a sea of sorrow. One way or the other, he'd end up losing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How could he possibly do that?" she said to himself, "I can't understand!" Grief tugged at her chest as she saw the young woman's body be dragged away out of the room. She couldn't help herself, "Leave her alone!" The only response she got was silence and the sound of the door creaking. Her eyes fixed themselves upon the door, left ajar, and she bit her lower lip too hard. She didn't draw blood, and the pain was nothing compared to the one her soul felt. How could D be so cruel? First, to her daughter and second… to himself. Why did he let himself be consumed by hate? She probably knew that, and she was determined to put an end to his madness… loved one or not.

"It's time I change the circumstances."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

D smirked, "I told you. Who will he choose, I wonder, knowing he wouldn't hurt you so simply. And I certainly expect you to cling to the thought of living… or don't you?" he asked Albert callously. He simply didn't respond, not letting his cold temper get the best of him. He remained calm on the outside, but trepidation tugged at his chest. D was right: he _had_ to see the matter through. D found Albert's expression undecipherable, but as always, there was a perilous gleam in his now crimson eyes, "Take him away," D commanded. Albert was forced to stand up, and he couldn't help an inner smile. _Sure, just take me away… _The cold tip of the shard was against his palm, and Albert was already working discreetly in pulling it out of its hideout. Once they reached his confinement room, things would take a bloody turn.

Albert stepped out of the room, still accompanied by the guards, after glancing for the last time at the monitors. They had turned black, giving him another sense of uneasiness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William couldn't bear with the stress and, to make matters worse, he caught the scent of another Hunter approaching from behind him. He quickly turned around, and he wasn't deceived: a creature was running towards him. With a gasp, William quickly drew out his gun and fired, but as it seemed, the Hunter wasn't even fazed. As more bullets pierced its body and it still didn't react to the pain, he was forced to retreat and run away. The right hall had been closed down, so his only choice was taking the left turn. The Hunter closed in at a fast speed and, somehow, other Hunters knew where William was heading, because another pair of the creatures popped up in front of him, blocking his way. One of them lunged at him with a fierce screech, and William fired again; this time, as it seemed, the Hunter was injured. It recoiled, a perilous look in its eyes.

As the Glock clicked, the same Hunter attacked again; William dodged, hitting the wall, and the Hunter slashed its talons at his face, yet he was quick enough to duck in time. His hand reached for a magazine to reload, but he just found one left. _Just my luck! They must've fallen outside!_, he thought as he placed the cartridge inside the gun. Once ready, William rolled to one side, avoiding the other remaining Hunter, and ran away, knowing he wouldn't harm them too much. He sought refuge inside a room but just when he was about to close the door, the Hunters pushed all together with screeches in anger. William pushed harder and harder, trying to keep them at bay, until by instinct one of his 'arms' slid out of his sleeve and, sharp as a blade, it exited through the small gap and slit the creatures' throats, spilling blood everywhere. He heard their bodies stumble down and he fully closed the door. He was surprised to see where he was again.

It was the same room where he had found the tracking devices. Suddenly, it clicked: if Sherry actually had a device, which would explain her pain attacks, why not look for something to deactivate them? William quickly rushed over to the table with all the files on the devices and went through them, not missing any detail. He found the information he was looking for: they could only be deactivated with a special remote. _Where to find it now? Anyone could have it!_, he thought, discouraged. Surprisingly and oddly enough, a remote lying on the table caught his eye. And a small note was stuck to it: _It'll help._

William was confused: who would try to help him? And how would the remote help? He actually didn't know who would it benefit, but he had the strange feeling somebody was helping him. It could be a trap, also, but he trusted his intuition. There was a small red button… and he pressed it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The woman felt relieved. _He's done it. Wesker's device is off; that gives him and me the advantage. Wesker will come to feel better, I'm sure_, she thought with a short smile. Luckily, she had been fast enough to set everything up. _D won't see this coming, that's for sure._


	18. Chapter 17: Has life lost its meaning?

**Author's Note:** Alright, I'm back with updates. The title of the chapter itself already gives the chills, lol, you'll see why. I found my inspiration while listening to Evanescence, because the music fits the mood of the chapter. You'll see it by yourselves. Enjoy!^^

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

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17

Has life lost its meaning?

"We've lost a signal!" D turned around, frown appearing on his handsome features.

"How could that happen? Who's touched a remote?" he demanded, looking at the monitors, "Damn it, it's Wesker's… Birkin has to be involved in this." And as fast as Albert's signal had disappeared, William's did too, leaving D confused and angry. _Birkin couldn't have possibly found both remotes, it's impossible! Unless… there has to be a traitor… and I am _so_ going to find whoever it is._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert went down the stairs, slowly but surely working on taking out the glass shard. It glistened under the light, and he thanked the thugs' poor intuition as he cast a cautious glare at the weapon. The door to the store room soon appeared in sight and the shard was just ready; his whole body tense, getting ready to turn the tables. Albert had been feeling the thrill since they left D… and things took a bloody turn.

He elbowed two thugs he had behind him with great strength, hitting them both square in their sternums. They were left breathless and stunned, and they backed away. Albert arched his arm upwards, feeling the shard slide out from behind his watch, and he caught it in the air. Next thing he felt was blood stain his face and arm. Both thugs dropped dead, blood flowing out of their sliced throats. _Gore, but effective_, he thought. Albert quickly swivelled around as the sound of a gun cocking and the remaining guard fired; Albert dodged effortlessly and delivered a blow to his gut, thrusting him across the hall. As the punch hadn't been too strong to kill him, the man stood up groaning and before he could raise the gun again, Albert was pinning him against the wall on a chokehold with his forearm. He then placed the shard against the man's temple, breathing heavily and eyes glistening with anger.

"In the… research…dome…" the man gasped getting Albert's hint. He nodded and saw hope in the man's eyes, but he soon took it away. Albert stared mercilessly at the corpses, bloodstained, pale and faces as masks of shock; without any regrets, he headed to the research dome, weapon in hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

William knew something had changed and he spun around, looking carefully in all directions, "Joanne, is Sherry alright?" he asked then. Joanne sighed.

"**Yeah, she's fine. Not physically hurt, but she's too scared**," she replied concernedly. William grunted as a lump formed in his throat, "Sherry, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you!" he said, hoping she'd hear him.

"**She hears you. I'll do my best too to protect her**."

"Thanks, Joanne," William said, ending the conversation. He was about to take a step when he heard somebody familiar in his head.

_-__William!_, Albert called.

_-__Albert! Are you-?_

_-__Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit shaken. Listen, I'm going to get my things; meanwhile, make your choice_, Albert said.

_-What?! You want me to choose Sherry's life to save?_, his friend replied.

_-That's it._

_-What about you? I can't have you killed_, William replied. Albert was actually surprised.

_-You __amaze me, you knew that? I didn't think you'd still be that considerate. To the point, I have the feeling that- Damn!_, he cursed. William gasped.

_-What's wrong?_, He didn't get an answer. William ran off to find him… as she got ready for her strike.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert quickly gave the Licker the slip and hid behind a desk, leaning his head round the corner. The Licker hissed and prowled around, looking for any trace to find him. The creature caught his scent and turned around, showing its teeth and spear-like tongue. It darted towards Albert, who caught it inches away from his face as he stood up; he pulled the Licker towards him and dodging its claws, he dug the shard into its brain. And it dropped dead with a low cry.

Albert remained still, blood dripping from the gash holding the shard had inflicted. He found a nearby medical kit and applied just a bandage to stop the bleeding; he was already starting to feel slightly dizzy. As the wound healed, he walked to a group of lockers and opened them carefully; inside one of them, he found both his guns and gear. Fortunately he too found a black turtleneck his size and, with everything ready and, of course, his newfound sunglasses, he spun around, yet something caught his attention. _Found you…_

One of the closets gleamed suspiciously, and that could only mean one thing. As he felt the air cooler when he got closer, he had no doubts: the samples were there. Apprehensively, he opened it and couldn't help to smirk: the 'Las Plagas' sample, along with lots of other viruses, was neatly resting upon its shelf. Only interested in the parasite, Albert quickly snatched it and noticed a second one behind. _So, they managed to duplicate it… Interesting!_ Carefully, he placed them in one of the holsters as he took a gun. _ Not very professional, but it'll do_, he thought_, Let's get out of here._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You can't find him?" D inquired, furious, "The traitor _has_ to be here!"

"Well, if he's here, he's too fast for us. He's just one step ahead of us!" replied a guard, defiantly. D didn't care about his tone, but growled in annoyance as he got the answer. _Damn it!_, he cursed.

"Never mind that… keep looking for this double-crosser though; I'll focus on killing Wesker. He's _not_ making it out of this alive."

"What will you do?" asked the leader of the squad. D smirked evilly.

"I'll just send him a departing gift."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert dashed through the hall and pressed the elevator button. Impatient, he stood looking at the doors, tightening and loosing his grip on the handle of his gun. He finally heard the elevator's _ding_ after a few seconds and, after quickly getting inside, he pressed the button for the main floor. The doors closed and his nervousness increased. _We're almost there…_, he thought, trying to calm down.

No more than six seconds had gone by when the elevator's lights flickered, darkening the inside, the elevator became slower until it stopped abruptly, almost knocking Albert down to the floor. With a click, the lights were turned off, but were luckily replaced with the emergency ones.

"Now what?" Albert muttered to himself, "I don't guess technical malfunctions…"

"I know you're there!!" shouted a female voice from the outside. Albert raised his head, only to find a pair of tentacles trying to dig their way inside, restlessly hitting the elevator to break it.

"Come out!!" she shouted again, pounding the elevator with her fist this time, "Face me!!" Anger was predominant in her words and, as she banged her fist one more time, it clicked: Albert knew who that woman was. _I think it's time for one last confrontation, miss Ellis… You won't be so lucky this time._

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William came to a halt again, feeling an uncomfortable itch in his calf. _Oh, no… Not now!_, he thought knowing the wound had swollen, _I guess I'd better take a break._ He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing.

"How're you holding up?" he asked Joanne.

"**Good, thank heaven. Due to the tension, Sherry's taking a nap. I can tell stress leaves you exhausted.**" She replied, calmness in her voice. William smiled and clung to the idea of seeing Sherry again: he had to make his choice. How to find D however? And he certainly wouldn't speak out loud knowing the microphones were shut off. Joanne's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "**What about you?**"

William shrugged, "I've found Albert; I was going to look for him, but my leg hurts too much to keep moving," he replied, "I'll try contacting him; he's already taking too long."

_-Albert?_, no response. William frowned, _-Can you hear me?_, he asked again. Albert didn't respond. _Damn! He clearly wins the 'Bad Timing' award! Where is he?_

"I can't seem to reach him. Curse his bad timing."

"**I just hope he's okay.**"

"No need for you to remind me, Joanne." He said, shaking his head. There was a short silence between them, a silence William could fortunately use to relax.

In the house, Joanne looked at Sherry, who peacefully slept resting her head on Joanne's thigh. Trepidation grew inside her and she was really scared about what could happen. Joanne brushed some strands out of Sherry's face and, as she touched her cold and soft skin, she had the feeling somebody touched her cheek, like two fingers running down it. Joanne stiffened, though she knew there was nobody around. Unfortunately, that sensation triggered a memory.

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_She was only six years old when everything happened. Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks; her eyes had reddened, so had her nose. Her legs were tucked in and her arms wrapped around them, giving her a much smaller appearance. In the dormitory, everything was engulfed by darkness, save for a little light that came from the outside. Joanne was deeply affected by the fact of not having any parents. She had known them, she had memories of them from when she was still a little baby, but they were not with her, and she missed them. The too many times she remembered them she couldn't help but cry. Everybody was so cold in there, sometimes too harsh, and she didn't like the ambient. That's what they were teaching her though, but she couldn't get rid of emotions._

_As she lifted her head, a darkened silhouette walked to her and kneeled before her. With the light, Joanne distinguished one of the people that taught her in class: a young and handsome brunette. As Joanne gazed into his eyes, she saw a kind gleam in them, much to her surprise. _

"_What are you doing here?" he asked neutrally. Joanne wiped her tears away and didn't respond; she only kept looking at him, trepidation in her eyes. Then, he saw the man smile, "Everything will be alright, okay?" He then said, running the back of his fingers down her humid cheeks. Joanne felt at ease: it was the first kind gesture she had received in five years... and she smiled feebly. The man's smile grew wider, _"_That's better.__"_

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Joanne frowned as she tried to make something out of that memory, but still nothing came. Where had she experienced that? When? Why? There were so many questions and so little answers that she actually became frustrated at first, but she forgot about it, as there were more important matters at hand. Feeling tired, she lay back on the pillow and closed her eyes, avoiding the temptation of falling asleep. And she prayed for everything to be alright.

Nothing lasted for long.

Sherry suddenly screamed in pain again, feeling an incredible pain course through every single corner of her body, just like a lightning strike. She convulsed, her body heating up from tension. Joanne exclaimed in alert and held Sherry's face between her hands.

"Sherry, what's wrong?!!" she asked out loud above the girl's screams. Sherry gripped her head with both her hands, convulsing more violently by the second.

"**Joanne, what's happening?!!**" William asked, fear in his voice.

"Sherry, calm down! Sherry!!" Joanne insisted, ignoring William's voice. One last convulsion, one last scream… and Sherry dropped down on the bed again, exhaling.

"**Joanne!**" William called again.

"I don't know, she just started convulsing in pain and… Sherry, hey, are you alright?" Joanne asked the girl. Sherry didn't move nor did she say anything. She just lay there, still, stiff and pale, losing colour by the second, "Sherry!" Joanne exclaimed, shaking her. A lump formed in her throat: Sherry was not responding… nor her chest did rise or fall.

"Oh, God…"

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William, who was hearing everything, was blankly looking at the wall in front of him as he focused on taking everything in. It was so difficult… and painful. He still heard Joanne calling his daughter's name endlessly and, to his horror, her voice be replaced by sobs. Suddenly, his whole world fell apart; every single thing was senseless, as if life had lost its meaning, and William was pushed to the very edge of madness and despair. William sunk down to the floor, choking on inevitable tears, and as he tucked his legs in, he clenched his teeth and fists so hard he drew blood out of the palm of his hand. William became so furious with himself that he screamed at himself internally, making him bear with more blame. His own voice echoed in his head and, getting mixed with the sudden amount of more voices in it, his own, Sherry's… and Albert's, it created a strong and uncomfortable cacophony that made him clench his fists even harder.

_It's his fault… and- and mine! I shouldn't have done what I did to myself… I should've seen it coming… I could've protected Sherry and nothing would've happened! __I-I haven't been able to do a single thing for her, and now she's dead! Why?! I don't care what it takes but you're going to pay, Albert! It's going to cost you dearly!_

Everything was so cruelly ironic… and everything was just so unfair…

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A/N: I'm so waiting to hear what you think. Things will get really heated up after this. It might seem short, but I'm building the mood for what comes next, so stay tuned for more!

Review, but please, no flames.  
-Chris


	19. Chapter 18: The one behind the scenes

**Author's Note:** Finally an update, you must be thinking. It's just that I've been busy these days, but I managed to get my inspiration back and write this chapter. I tried to make it as intense as possible, since there's a good bunch of action on this one. Enjoy!^^

**Special thanks to Divine Arion, Hobohunter and Raiderlover6 (thanks for taking interest in my story! Much appreciated^^)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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18

The one behind the scenes

Five of Rachel's roots pierced through the ceiling, four on each corner and one through the middle. They didn't move at the same time, but one after another in complete sync. Albert dodged carefully but still felt one graze his cheekbone. Rachel felt this and knowing his position, sent her five weapons through one hole, widening it. Albert dodged again and not wasting any time, fired at Rachel, who got hit by both bullets in her gut. No blood seeped out and Rachel sighed tiredly before lunging at Albert with great ferocity. He was utterly surprised when Rachel knocked him down and pinned him with amazing force; just when he was about to react, Rachel held both his wrists above his head and tightened her other hand around his throat. She chuckled darkly as Albert coughed, desperately gasping for breath. Rachel laughed out loud this time maniacally, closing her hand even harder.

"Die!" she shouted as her laughter became almost uncontrollable. _Damn it!_, Albert thought as he tried to shake her off him. Luckily, with a big effort, he kneed her right under her ribcage; Rachel exclaimed and gasped in pain and using those moments, Albert lifted her above him with his foot and slammed her against the wall. Rachel ended upside down and quickly stood on her hands to avoid breaking her neck. Albert stood up and turned around, finally breathing again, and caught sight of Rachel's twisted smile. He avoided the first kick she sent to his face and blocked the second that went for his chest. _I can't fight here; better getting outside…_

Albert quickly jumped outside as he holstered his gun, followed closely by Rachel. A bright light caught Albert's attention and he saw it was the frame leading to the main hall, just metres above him. _I have to get there_. As Rachel landed in front of him, Albert backed away, only to stop at the edge. He took off his shades and tucked them in his pocket. _I'd better not lose them_.

"Can't see me clearly?" Rachel taunted laughing. Albert frowned, _What's wrong with her? I know she wants to kill me but she's just maniac! And truth be said, her change scares me a little bit. Oh, what am I thinking?!_ Rachel's roots darted for Albert; he jumped as high as his legs allowed him and grabbed a wire above him. The roots pursued him and quickly wrapped themselves around his ankle. They pulled strongly but he didn't let go. Rachel jumped to where he was, ready to impale him right there, and Albert's eyes widened in shock. He quickly let go of the wire and fell down onto the top of the elevator again, shaking it, which was a terrible mistake. The elevator descended a bit and stopped abruptly, sign that told the cables were breaking. Albert looked up as Rachel smiled evilly and stuck to the wall, watching eagerly. Then, just like an arrow, she launched herself towards Albert and, catching him almost off guard, she grabbed him by the waist and both started falling.

Albert elbowed Rachel right in her nape, making her scream. Rachel wrapped her roots around a beam, braking the fall, and used her small advantage to kick Albert and send him against one of the vertical beams. A small _clank_ caught his attention for a short moment: chains. Before he started falling again, he grabbed them and looked at Rachel, who lunged at him again. In just a millisecond, Albert knew what to do: he back-flipped as high as could, avoiding her, and the same moment his ankles touched the opposite wall, he looked up to the beam Rachel had held herself to and thrust himself up there. He landed with a swift movement, trying to keep his balance, and glanced at her.

Rachel was berserk, trying to control her anger with heavy breaths. She snarled and bared her teeth in fury when she landed in front of him. Giving in into her killing desire, she launched a vicious kick to Albert's side, but he just blocked it as he gripped her ankle. He quickly released her before Rachel could thrust herself up and send another kick to his face, and he imitated her this time.

Every single blow they sent to each other they blocked it or it missed, randomly grazing or hitting them. Both of them were starting to get tired of that pointless spar.

Before Rachel could attack again, Albert jumped back and thrust himself up using the wall and the vertical beam. _I can't lose any more time…_, he thought. His bare feet started aching, but he had nothing to worry about. He was fast enough to reach the elevator gap in time but, much to his misfortune, Rachel gripped both his ankles and dragged him down again with her. Faster than Rachel though, Albert held himself to the edge, trying not to slip. Fighting against Rachel's weight, Albert quickly lifted himself up.

"_There's your chance, Rachel! Kill him!_" Rachel's inner voice told her. She gave out a maniac grin and, also lifting herself up, Rachel slid an arm around Albert's neck and again held him on a chokehold. He had stood up the same moment Rachel's weight lifted off his ankles, but he was stopped again. Surprisingly, Rachel's grip was much stronger that time and her laugh, sadistic.

"Show me what you got!" she demanded as she released him. Albert spun around, only to receive a reverse roundhouse on his face. He staggered to one side but recovered, feeling his whole face sear with pain, and lunged at Rachel with great force. He sent a high kick to her face, a low roundhouse and a punch to her stomach: all three blows hit their target and sent Rachel to the wall. She crashed against it, releasing a scream in pain, and bent over hugging her belly. Stunned, she felt Albert's knee connect with her face, breaking her nose, and her body arched upwards. With one elegant yet swift movement, Albert backhanded her, making her stagger this time. Albert was about to attack again, but Rachel was much faster; she kicked him in his back, sending him to the wall, and she performed an astounding movement: she flipped in the air as many times as she could to gain impact force and, with a furious yell, she dug her knee into Albert's back as hard as she was able to. His body arched forward, and he screamed through gritted teeth.

"Indulge me!" Rachel screamed. Albert backed away, blood dripping from his mouth and wound at his cheekbone, and checked both the samples were still in their place. Much to his joy, he found them there, though one was almost about to fall. Then, he looked at Rachel, who too was bleeding. _She's much stronger this time, but much more uncontrollable. Something must've happened to her… both physically and psychically. No time to find out, however. What can I kill her with? _

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_No one had time to react, and without wasting any time, he spun around and dug his fist into the man, piercing his chest from side to side. No blood oozed at first, and Wesker held Warren there for a few seconds, enough to make the man realise he was already dead. With a disgusting sound, Wesker withdrew his hand and Warren fell down dead, surrounded by his own, warm blood. Wesker had never done something so gore, but he felt this time it was necessary._

_"The example of what Umbrella can achieve... Since I am that, I'll perfect myself even more." He said._

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Albert smiled inwardly. _I can do that again… yet I need to weaken her or catch her off guard. Let's see what we can do._

Rachel breathed heavily as pain invaded her body. Suddenly, she felt something convulse inside her chest, which made another wave of pain strike her. She bent over again, groaning and panting, when she released a piercing yell as her body changed. _No, no, NO! No, please… Oh, God!! _More roots sprouted from her chest, swirling and twisting in the air.

"She's too dangerous now…" Albert uttered to himself, "I have to take her out, immediately." Rachel raised her gaze to him, and Albert was surprised when he saw their change: white as snow. Rachel charged at him and sent a punch to his gut. Albert blocked, raised her arm and hit her with the butt of his hand right on her jaw. Just after, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, gazing into her eyes. Rachel struggled restlessly to escape from his clutches, but she just made Albert to tighten his grip.

Her back hit the wall, pinned against it; Rachel came to a harsh realization: Death held her with his cold, strong hand, ready to take her life.

"Too bad…" she heard Albert say. It clicked: she was definitely going to die. She couldn't move; even though the parasite had evolved, it had only made her weaker, as the mutation had taken too much energy.

"_No, Rachel, move! We can't die now!!_" she heard her voice shout.

_But I can't…_

Rachel then felt an incredible pain rise up, invading her mind, senses and body. She became numb, her lip trembled, and everything was colder in just a few seconds. As her eyes turned to normal again, she gazed at her chest: pierced from side to side, blood seeping out uncontrollably and forming a puddle under her. She coughed, gagging on her own blood that rose up her throat, and Albert dropped her. Rachel fell with a thud, her head colliding against the cold floor.

"Oh… too bad it had to end like this, isn't it?" They were the last words she heard Albert say before her life slipped away and she was shrouded by darkness.

Albert sighed tiredly, feeling every pain in his body disappear, and stared at Rachel for a few moments.

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"_Give her another shot! Come on! We're losing her!" Richards was shouting. Albert watched the experiment carry on as the young woman convulsed on the metal seat, her body trying to take in the parasite they had planted inside her. __He heard the sound of heels and the smell of soft and expensive perfume invaded his nose: Ada walked up to his side._

"_How's she holding up?"__ she asked casually. Albert didn't reply, "Oh, I see. Do you think she'll make it?"_

"_It's just a matter of time," Albert said coldly, trying to __brush her off, "We'll just have to see." And with that, he left calmly, leaving remnants of his cold presence behind. _

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Albert shrugged off the memory and shook the blood from his hand, spattering the floor with it.

"Now that this is over, I guess I should meet up with William." He said as he turned around and walked through the hall. He retrieved his shades and rested them on his nose again. His heart suddenly skipped a beat as he was startled by a shadow going by. _I don't guess it was my imagination…_, he told himself, narrowing his eyes distrustfully. Slowly, he withdrew his weapon again and advanced carefully, looking at every corner. He didn't find anything though, yet he heard a small clank; Albert spun around, keeping his calm. There was nothing so irritating for him than hearing noises around and not seeing what made them. Then, he heard a door opening; he looked to his right and saw somebody had left it ajar. He recognised a familiar scent; still, he couldn't make it out. Driven by his intuition, Albert crossed the door and instantly, it became illuminated. Albert was in a testing dome.

Steps reached his ears. When he turned around, he was hit in his stomach and thrown to the ground. He rolled on his side and stood up, becoming utterly appalled by the one standing in front of him: William. With an eerie countenance, he stood still, breathing slowly and deeply.

"What in the world are you doing?" Albert asked him.

"It's all your fault!!" William exclaimed as he swung his fist at Albert. He blocked as he frowned, trepidation tugging at his chest. William fought without becoming tired, until Albert held both his arms, immobilising him.

"What's my fault?" Albert asked again. William struggled and pulled to free himself; seeing he couldn't, he gazed into Albert's eyes.

"Sherry's dead!" He blurted out angrily as his knee hit Albert's gut. When Albert raised his face, William smirked, "Don't give me that stupid and false expression of yours! I know you don't feel _anything_ out of what I've told you!" He said, noticing Albert's eyes full of surprise.

"**No, William, please don't!**" Joanne's voice told him through the radio.

"Don't you get into this! It's not your business!" He snapped. Albert's blood boiled when he heard William address Joanne like that: he simply didn't tolerate it.

"You were supposed to have saved her, you-"

"She died before I could do nothing!" William interrupted him, exploding in anger, "I thought it had changed… I used it… but it still didn't work! She just died!" William exclaimed in fury, slamming his foot on the floor. The older man straightened himself and unconsciously frowned concernedly, actually feeling grief.

"Do you know that I actually feel something?"

William scoffed, "Yeah, right. What do you feel? Eagerness to blurt out an ironic or sarcastic remark? That won't help to change my mind, you know."

"You know too little about me, then." Albert shot back casually.

"Shut up! What I know convinces me that you never gave a damn about me! Ha, egocentric till the end, right?" William was about to take a step forward, but something stopped him. _Why am I saying this? Damn it, it's because I'm right! Why else would he do that? But… But I… God! It's frustrating! I can't make up my mind! It's just the same thing over and over again!_

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_Could it actually be? Was it just his imagination? William thought it wasn't__ and a smile appeared on his face. Albert was too smiling, feebly, but he still was. He put a hand on William's shoulder._

"_Now, since you're the better half of the team… __you're going to take care of the labs while I finish paperwork."_

"_Aw, come on! I thought you'd say something else!" William exclaimed__, laughing, "Besides, why do I get the bad part?" _

"_You're the better half of the team, I say again. You'll do much better than me."_

_William scoffed, "Yeah, right, you've got some nerve." Then, it was one of the few times Albert laughed at something, and they both started walking back to the Mansion, feeling the cold night breeze stroke their hair. _

"_I never __thought you'd crack a joke some time."_

_Albert shrugged, "You know too little about me, then."_

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_Damn it!_ _Why does this have to come up!?_, William thought. Albert smirked.

"Inner conflict, perhaps?" He remarked. William grunted and looked away, "I know that expression, and too well I'm afraid."

"What do you know, and what do you care anyway?" He snapped, fiercely glancing at him. Albert glanced back at him.

"To be sincere, I think I care too much."

"I can sense the irony in there; nice try at hiding it."

Albert sighed tiredly again, "Gosh, you're unbelievable, you knew that? Actually, that comment wasn't ironic or sarcastic, before you add that," He told William as he folded his arms across his chest. William's expression seemed to soften; if it did, he was good at hiding it. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and frustration and then looked at Albert sadly.

"How do I know you're not lying to me, Albert? How do I know you're being sincere, that your feelings are genuine? I just find it hard to believe you some times…"

Albert shrugged casually, truly meaning what he said next, "Suit yourself, in that case. But I thought you had to know." He simply replied. Instantly, William's eyes gleamed with surprise, and his countenance mirrored his soul. _What a pep talk, eh?_, he wondered. They both remained silent, gazing at each other, the silence only disturbed by their breathing. William was troubled, _How can I find sincerity in his eyes? It's just… strange._

"What a pep talk, eh?" said a familiar male voice as if reading William's thoughts.

Both of them turned their heads to the door, only to find D standing with a smug smile. Albert adopted a cold expression again, and William frowned.

"You… what do you want now?" he asked.

"Ha, I just wanted to hear your choice." D replied. His words seemed to William like a splinter digging deeper into his heart.

"Sherry's dead; I don't have a choice to make." He brusquely said. D's brow unconsciously furrowed a bit, but his eyes betrayed him. Who had killed the girl?

"The girl's dead?" he asked, hiding his genuine surprise.

"Don't give me that crap now. You have something to do with that!"

Albert raised an eyebrow, _Wasn't I the one who had? Anyway..._ Suddenly, he felt a fourth presence in the room, and his head shot upward, alert. Who could it be? William noticed his gesture and became worried.

"What's wrong?" Albert raised his hand to silence him. From the shadows, a woman emerged. Brown eyes, blonde hair in a ponytail and a small gauze on her temple. She was nobody else than Kimberly Anne Heap.

"Actually, _I_ have to do something with that."

"No… No, you didn't!" D exclaimed, obviously not believing Heap's words and getting her hint. His snowy eyes met Kimberly's brown ones, which were full of disdain towards him, "You were the traitor."

"You sure are slow to catch on, huh? Of course I was." Kimberly admitted freely. Both Albert and William were dazed.

"So… you're the one that put the note beside the remote I used!" William said as it clicked. Kimberly smirked.

"You've caught on! Yes, I was. It deactivated your signal; and Wesker's, it was my doing. You deactivated it almost at the same time I did, thus giving me a little bit more of advantage. As for your daughter's… you don't have to worry about that. Everything's under control."

"How can you say that?" William uttered, shaking his head. D clenched his fists and somehow, Kimberly looked familiar to him, yet he couldn't explain why.

"You bastard!" D hissed angrily. Kimberly's smirk widened, leaving everyone shocked. Her eyes met D's again and the young man realised. He gasped and backed away a few steps, his shoulders trembling, "You… you can't be her! No!"

"I guess it's time to explain some things, isn't it, Ed?" she said. D's face was a mask of complete shock and horror, something that confused the blonds and made Kimberly delight in it.

"How do you know my name?" D demanded furiously. Heap rolled her eyes. Everybody shared the same thought: Kimberly knew too much; the best and worst part of the situation was she was about to tell it all.

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A/N: So, looks like Kimberly was behind it all in the end. Stay tuned to see how everything will develop... And why isn't she worried about Sherry at all? How come everything's under control? You'll see *winks eye*

I expect reviews, but please, no flames.  
-Chris


	20. Chapter 19: Bonds that strengthen

**Author's Note:** Oh, well, I have nothing to say except I'm working on new projects. If you visit my profile, you'll get the info you need. Right... this chapter's kind of emotional; I was inspired to write it while listening to "The best is yet to come", from MGS1. Man, it helped. Also, this chapter solves more questions, but doesn't raise anymore. I think everything is covered, isn't it? xDD Enjoy!^^

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

**Special thanks to Divine Arion and Hobohunter**

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19

Bonds that strengthen

"Start talking!" D demanded, looking furiously at Kimberly. She tilted her head to one side with a neutral expression, yet her eyes reflected what her soul felt: sorrow. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily and, unable to help it, she smiled, shook her head and chuckled.

"It's kind of hard to say it… but since you want to know so badly, here it comes: Edward, what do you know of Anna Ellis, née Dimes? Is her name familiar to you?"

"It… it is… but what does she have to do with this?" D shot back, rudely. Suddenly, it clicked and came to realise: his mother was standing right in front of him… Anna Dimes, "No… mo-mother?" He uttered in complete disbelief.

"What?" William exclaimed under his breath. Albert, on his end, didn't know if to feel confused, but he soon realised something: he had killed Kimberly's daughter with his own hands. _She'll understand,_ he thought to reassure himself.

A smile flickered across Kimberly's face, "Yes, Ed. You were looking to kill your own mother and you didn't know she was right beside you. Good thing pseudonyms exist; I couldn't have concealed myself from you if it wasn't for it. Let me explain all that happened and… you might also be interested," She then looked at William, then at Albert, and she started talking.

"After I graduated from university, the Agency approached me and proposed me to work with them. I personally met your father, Ed, in a conference in Canada, and it was him who made the suggestion. After a few negotiations, I accepted and joined. Just suddenly, I found myself falling in love with Robert and, out of that, we married after a three year relationship. Your sister and you were born in 1980 and '82 respectively, being a complete blessing for us both."

"Rachel…" whispered Edward, suddenly feeling a pinch of regret.

"Yes. However, your father died in an accident a day before you were born. Still, I made it out of the situation and kept going, raising you and your sister. I was contacted by the Agency again in '86, sending me inside Umbrella's Spencer State in Arklay with the new bunch of trainees. Who did I leave you with? A day before entering the mansion, I accompanied you both personally to your uncle and aunt's house and you stayed there, starting school like normal siblings. I stayed two years in the mansion until 1988, when Marcus was killed. I immediately informed the Agency, not willing to disobey my orders; I simply couldn't put anything at stake."

"That's why The Group knew of that and they dissolved, right?" asked William, seeing his chance to chime in. Kimberly nodded, and Albert also saw his chance to intervene, coming up with a question that'd solve all of their doubts.

"Which was the third original company?" he asked.

"There was no third company, there never was. The 'third company' was a bogus identity created by the Agency itself. We used it to keep a steady rhythm in progression; if we made demands under our 'pseudonym', we'd get the experiments sooner and better. It was just a matter of manipulation for our interests." Heap explained calmly. Although it confused Albert and William, her revelation also made them be at ease: one less thing to worry about.

"As I was saying before, fortunately everything kept going smoothly for me until 1998. First of all, I luckily survived the outbreak in the State, due to another conference in Florida; second, I wasn't in Raccoon City to witness its eradication. I had moved to Virginia to be closer to you after everything that happened in Arklay. I sought haven in the Agency again and I soon knew of RBI, because you had started putting pressure on Joanne, Ed. You sent me in undercover in late 2003 and… I guess there's nothing to explain."

"You still haven't told me why you turned me into a monster." Edward snapped.

"Oh, I don't know how I could forget such a point," Kimberly excused herself, "You remember you were captured in 2003, right? Well, after I knew of your demise, I went in desperately to retrieve your body. I was just on the edge of madness; I simply couldn't take it. I found you and, using everything I knew about human science and all I had learned in Umbrella, I used one of Joanne's substances on you, a parasitic organism to be precise, and I tried so hard… still, every effort was in vain. I had no choice but to abandon you. I'm sorry."

Edward couldn't hold back his flowing tears and rage, "Damn it, why did you leave me? I- I needed you! I wasn't dead!!" Edward was speechless as memories came back to him at an uncontrollable rate. His chest shrank as he looked into the eyes of the person he had hated the most, always oblivious to their bond. Now that he knew, he simply didn't want to believe it, but the sad smile Kimberly gave out reminded him of the sad smile he saw before falling dead… two years ago.

"If I had known that, I would've undone my actions and treated you, but your heart stopped beating. You _died_ in front of me. I saw your body be eaten by the parasites I injected into you and I saw you die. You surprised me when you joined the Agency, though, and also, sorrow took hold of me. I couldn't bear seeing you harbouring so much hate in those eyes of yours, but I still stayed with you. Well, now that I've answered all of your questions, tell me something: why did you do that to your sister?"

Edward clenched his fists in anger as an image of Rachel smiling came to his mind, "I thought she wanted to kill the man that made us suffer! I thought she had joined for that only reason, and then it turns out she was leaking information to those bastards at the BDA! As you know, siblings aren't supposed to betray each other!"

"Damn it, she didn't know you were alive!!" Kimberly exploded, losing her patience, "Your mind has been clouded by your desire to obtain revenge; you've been so blind you sent her to her own death! Right after she knew you were dead, I thought she had died that instant too! She blamed herself for not being able to protect you, and she even almost became isolated from the whole world. A year later, I never saw her again… until the day she joined…" Kimberly made a pause, breathing heavily and trying to ease her trembling voice; then, she lowered her head, and her fringe hid her eyes, "You've killed her, haven't you?" She asked, slowly raising her eyes to Albert. He just gave a short nod in response.

"**Oh, God!**" William heard Joanne exclaim in surprise.

"What is it?"

The following words left him utterly appalled, "**What just… happened?**" The voice was very familiar to him, so familiar he actually thought it was just an illusion. It was Sherry.

"Oh, God, Sherry!" he exclaimed out loud, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"**Sherry, are you alright?**" Joanne asked. William couldn't hear the girl's response, but Joanne relayed it to him, "**She's fine, you don't have to worry.**" Another smile, yet feeble, appeared in Kimberly's face and Albert was soon relieved,

"But-But how?" William asked Heap.

"Everything was under control because I was the one who deactivated her device. Hers was much more complicated and more of a pain because it also had a second objective: killing its 'host', to put it like that. It's attached to the spinal cord and it affects the whole nervous system; that's why, when I shut it off, she must've apparently died. As I was the one in charge of developing the devices, I made Sherry's be special: it had a second mechanism to, if in case we needed to shut it down, keep the 'host' alive. I reactivated it and, along with it, her whole body would work again: nervous impulses would be transmitted again, thus reanimating her."

William was breathing heavily, unable to hold back his happiness, "Why? Why would you do that?" he asked her, "Not that… Well…" Kimberly just shrugged and her smile widened. Albert couldn't help but to smile inwardly at William's fortune. _Now, the only thing we have to do is to get out of here. I can't allow anything to happen now._

Sudden rage bloomed in Edward's soul, and he too felt conflicted. On one hand, he felt hatred towards his family; after all they had done to him, he simply couldn't make room in his heart for forgiveness, not even after knowing Rachel had suffered so much after his death. On the other, he just wanted to undo his actions, mourn his sister and go back with his mother… He couldn't decide what to do, what to think… what to feel. Edward had never felt so overwhelmed by two waves of different feelings and waited for one of them to crush him. Hate's wave came first.

On impulse, he spoke, "You're nothing more than trash!" Immediately after, his fist connected against Kimberly's ribcage, his knee went then for her gut and then, he sent an uppercut to her chin, all of this in just a flash. The woman fell to the ground, racking with pain. Blood dripped from her lips, and just as Edward attacked again, William lunged forward and elbowed him square in his chest, sending him against the wall with all his might. Edward snarled and looked fiercely at him; driven just by anger, he attacked again, only to be stopped by William once again. Albert quickly helped Kimberly up and stood beside her, watching William block and dodge Edward's vicious blows.

Edward soon saw an opening and, as he elegantly and swiftly jumped towards William's left side, he dug his elbow right into the crook of his neck. He landed quickly and back-kicked William, pushing him out of the way. Getting ready to face Albert, he screamed, "She's the one I want!!" Albert stepped forward and crossed both his arms in front of his face to avoid getting hit by one of Edward's wicked kicks. He pushed his leg away and punched the younger man's jaw. Edward staggered to one side, but he soon counterattacked with another vicious kick. By all of his movements, it could be predicted how much hate lived within him, blinding just like a black ribbon.

William soon joined the fight again. Much to his misfortune, he tripped forward with his own foot, making Albert lose his concentration slightly. Quick as lighting, Edward used that another opening to his advantage: as William came closer to his friend, he back-kicked again, hitting William. The blow was strong enough to knock them both down, William's arm searing with pain. Edward soon ran as quickly as possible towards Kimberly, pulling out a small combat knife from his boot.

_What has my son become?_, Kimberly asked herself, watching in disbelief her son's menacing figure advancing towards her. She soon remembered the decision she had made: no regrets, even if it was a loved one. Edward now was and wasn't her son; he could almost resemble him in appearance, but the true Edward's heart had been encased and filled with hate and dark intentions, leaving her only one choice to make: kill him. Hesitatingly, she retrieved her gun from under her jacket, but she didn't raise it. The hand that held the gun was shaking, as well as her, feeling a wave of panic strike her. _I can't do it… He's my son! But Kimberly, look who he's become! He's not Edward anymore!_ Before she realised, Edward was right in front of her, a wicked smile spread across his lips. Kimberly gasped and gazed into her son's eyes, finding only hate in them.

"It's over for you, mother," he said, his words tinged by disdain.

"No!" shouted William as he started running towards them. Kimberly acted unconsciously: she raised the gun at chest height and fired. Too bad Edward's knife had already reached its objective: her stomach. Both mother and son's faces transformed into masks of pain and surprise as their bodies throbbed with pain. Nevertheless, Edward still found the energies to fight back. Still, Kimberly reacted faster than he did. She pulled the trigger twice with the little strength she had. Bullets pierced Edward's chest and he groaned in pain, blood rising up to his throat.

William stopped dead in his tracks, "Oh, no…"

Kimberly removed the knife from her abdomen with a scream, making blood seep out uncontrollably. She was out of time, but she had to hold on, no matter how much blood she lost.

Edward coughed up blood through gritted teeth, life slowly slipping away, until he collapsed onto Kimberly, trying to breathe. She held him and fell onto her knees, tears flowing down her cheeks. All of a sudden, a wave of emotions swept away all of Edward's hate; being in his mother's arms was too comforting and it was a pleasant feeling. His next gesture was touching for Kimberly: his arms slowly lifted up and he embraced her. Why bliss only bloomed in a person's final moments? Edward somehow couldn't hold a grudge against her anymore, and he pitied himself for not loving her enough. He wanted to say too many things, but he only had the strength to say…

"I-I… I loved you… b-but… couldn't… show you or-or R-Rachel… I was… too late…" Edward was struggling to keep on living, to say just what he needed to say, to show his mother how much a person can change when their soul is about to be taken, "For-," He screamed again through gritted teeth, shattering Kimberly's heart, "Forgive…me…" And Edward's arms fell limp as he exhaled for one last time. Kimberly gasped, quickly pulling Edward's body into another embrace as she cried.

William was about to take a step forward when her eyes fixed upon his, "This is what I wanted to avoid from happening to you. I too had my children, but they were dead long before today," she said sadly. Albert knew how everybody felt that same instant and, because of that, he wasn't affected. Yet he felt that, deep down, he felt some form of pain and grief. William's chest shrank and he stared at Kimberly, appalled. _She's saved my daughter, I have to do something!_, he instantly thought.

"There's no need to do anything," she told William as if reading his thoughts, "Just get out of here." Instantly, Kimberly started panting and trying to regain her breath, but her time was over now.

"She's right, William," Albert urged him. His friend hesitated momentarily, taking one last glance at Anna. She had stopped breathing; her arms hung limp and her chin rested upon Edward's shoulder. _Thanks,_ William thought before leaving after Albert.

The Ellis were finally together, maybe in a better place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once outside, William leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh, affected by what they had witnessed. _'This is what I wanted to avid from happening to you…'_ Kimberly's words still roamed through his mind. _So her intentions had been helping us all along?_, he wondered, failing to notice Albert's questioning gleam. What made him snap out of his thoughts was a comforting hand on his shoulder: Albert's. He turned his gaze to him, his blue hues seemingly duller.

Albert gave a short nod, "We need to go." It was William's turn to nod again, and they both followed the hall to the exit. As they walked, Albert let out a sigh of satisfaction, which called William's attention, "I think all the beatings have been worth it, after all." William somehow saw a comical tinge in his remark and he couldn't help smiling weakly, which was just what Albert wanted. The situation made him wonder one thing: was trust beginning to flourish again?

_I can't help it: he's too damn important for me. __I'm determined to gain his trust again, and I won't deceive him on my end. Surely not anymore. _

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_A/N: Bah, I might've made Albert act a little bit out of character at the end, but I simply don't care. Things are starting to get brighter between them and he'd be the kind to take the initiative, wouldn't you think? Besides, Albert pushed everybody away so... bah, you'll see xDDD

I hoped you enjoyed ^^ Please review, but no flames.  
-Chris


	21. Chapter 20: Get out!

**Author's Note:** No author's note today xDDD, only that I appreciate your support and we're reaching the story's end... possibly, I might write a little bit more. Enjoy anyways!^^

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

**Special thanks to Divine Arion, Hobohunter and Raidenlover6.**

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20

Get out! 

"Now that I think of it, there must be some stairs, right?" asked Albert, "Because we can't take the elevator."

"How come?"

"It won't respond; when I fought Rachel, one of the cables broke, so it'd be senseless to try. How did you get here?"

"I was just about to tell you," said William, "I came down on another elevator at the other side of this complex."

"Let's go then." And so, both turned on their heels and ran through the halls, yearning to get out of there as soon as possible. Albert took his hand again to his holster, only to find the vials with the parasites were still there. _It surprises me they're still there, after all the ruckus, _he thought, _but I'd better not taunt luck; something might happen. _ As they turned left, they instantly stopped on their tracks. There was a door to their side that led to the staircase. They both exchanged a short look and proceeded inside, thinking what the other did.

"Not a lot to go," Albert remarked as he looked up. Suddenly, they heard a noise that made them turn to the door again, a very familiar noise. Worm-like roots slid inside, quickly looking for them, until a Vine appeared on the door. Its human appearance became undone, like threads unstitching, and about twenty roots straightened themselves, just like snakes. They swirled and turned in front of them, menacing.

"Go!" Albert urged William. He didn't think about it twice: forcing his legs to the limit, William jumped up, heading for the upper landing. Albert was about to follow but the roots darted for his chest. Leaving black blurs behind him, he dodged their vicious strikes as well as he could in that limited space. He soon came to perform a feint, which fazed the Vine, and succeeded in following William. The plant however did not give up and raced up the stairs, following its instincts. The pair ran outside and closed the door behind them, soon appearing in the main complex again.

"I don't think that'll hold it at bay." Said William, receiving a questioning look from Albert. Yet he didn't need to answer, as Albert soon knew the reason behind his remark.

"Damn…," he cursed. Unfortunately, a familiar scent reached his nose this time, "This place is crawling with BOWs." William turned his head to him, only to notice a Licker at the same time Albert did. The Licker went to slash Albert's chest, and he quickly stepped back. It dropped down to the ground, sticking out its spear-like tongue and enjoying his scent. It leapt towards Albert, ready to bite his neck, yet he stepped back every time the Licker lunged at him, talons just slashing air. Soon, Albert came to bump against the wall and the Licker had just landed in front of him from the previous jump.

_That's when I come in!_, thought William running towards them. The only thing he could do was kick the creature right in its abdomen with all his strength, yet it was effective enough, as it was sent a few metres away.

"Just like a soccer ball," he teased under his breath. Albert held back a smile and both focused again on the Licker which, to their misfortune, had called more of its kind. In front of them, there were at least six of those creatures.

"We can't waste time," said Albert. The same moment William felt his hand clutch his wrist, nervousness formed a knot in his stomach.

"No, you're not!" He exclaimed, but Albert didn't listen. It was not what William was thinking. He ran forward, straight for the Lickers, and that's when everything started to work. Of course, having an easy prey like that wasn't something they got every day, so the Lickers jumped at the middle, eager to catch them both. Albert knew better: he pushed William to his side, leaving him the opening, and Albert disappeared with just a blur. That moment, the Lickers lost track of his scent, time the pair used to make their escape.

"How can there be so many around?" William asked as they avoided a trio of Eliminators, "Damn!"

"This doesn't make any sense. Why release every single BOW? Whoever did doesn't know what he or she is doing. Unless…" Albert's voice faltered, coming to a realisation, "That other man… It must've been him."

"One of D's accomplices?" William asked as they took a sharp right. Both of them stopped, Albert turning his head to his friend.

"There can be _no_ evidence—" he stressed _no_, "—which means we need to make this place vanish. I can get to the control room and activate the self-destruct system, if this facility actually has one. You go on ahead."

William shot him a reprimanding look, crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side, "No-you're-not, I have spoken. I'm going with you, like it or not. I'm not leaving you alone again, not after all you've gone through."

Albert scoffed, "Careful, I might die," he said sarcastically. William laughed falsely.

"Ha-ha-ha, you're funny today. Anyway, we need to get going. So… where to?" Albert rolled his eyes, sighing tiredly, which made William chuckle.

"Looks like I won't be able to ditch you today," he remarked under his breath; still, William could hear. As they ended their 'argument', they doubled back and took the left turn as they closed in on their destination. _Maybe I can get some more files from there, if there's actually a link to the computer core. Besides, there _must_ be one. If nothing gets in…_, he stopped musing for a second, _**our**__ way, perhaps we can get our hands on something._ He was taken again out of his musing because of a strong blow he received to his shoulder that made him slip and land right on his rear. He also smelled a waft of decay right next to him and, as he sprung to his feet again, Albert spun around, looking warily straight ahead.

William, who had seen him fall, stopped his running and waited for him, frowning. Unconsciously, he took his hand to his gun but, unfortunately, he had lost it during their fight with Edward. He cursed his clumsiness; he still had his force, but sometimes a gun was better. Suddenly, he felt something odd.

Albert was frozen on the spot, trying to locate his attacker. He couldn't see it, but he still had his sense of smell working perfectly. And it was just telling him the enemy was right behind him, although he wasn't the target that time. As he turned around again, he heard William exclaim in surprise and watched him back away. Then, William bent backwards, almost smacking the back of his head with the wall, trepidation etched across his features. Albert instantly plunged in to help, trying to catch the attacker off guard. His knee hit thin air, but William straightened and jogged to his right.

"Don't worry, I can see it!" he warned, his foot hitting something hard. An ear-piercing screech was heard; William pushed harder until something hit the wall with a thump. The creature that lay on the floor, saliva coming out of his mouth, was a strange one: a humanoid chameleon of white skin and dun marks all over it, big black pupil-less eyes and talons as hands.

"How come you could see it?"

"Not exactly see, but you could notice how your sight was somehow distorted; of course, it wasn't your sight," William explained almost casually, "God, we'd better watch from now on." A furious scream muted William's words and as they both spun around, they found themselves surrounded by almost all kinds of BOWs: five Cerberuses, two Vines and two Hunters. Albert's jaw almost dropped, his mind quickly working to plan an escape. With such a number of 'nuisances' around though, it'd be difficult coming out unharmed.

"I'll be damned…" Albert whispered, back to back with William. Fear resided in both of their gazes as they looked at the horde of bio-weapons. Every single creature was yearning to see blood spilled, to feel their talons and teeth slash their bodies. It was going to be a bloodbath. This time, with their siblings around, both humans were an easy prey.

That's what they though at least. William and Albert were both ready to strike.

Two of the five Cerberuses attacked first, leaping fiercely at William, jaws wide open. He instantly felt the tickling feeling of his tentacles sprouting from back and wrapping themselves around his arms as they barely poked their tips out of his sleeves. Adopting a defensive stance, he kicked one away, and he did it so hard the hound crashed against the wall, breaking its neck. The other went to rip out his throat, but he quickly raised his arm to defend himself. It was painless, as a hard and thick scab had covered his arm, protecting it from all harm. _Everything's useful_, he thought to himself as the dog tried to rip something apart. It was futile. It met the same fate as his sibling.

Albert was concentrated on aiming right on the spot and, so far, he had accomplished a few precise shots. The gunfire muted every other sound, the cling of shells faint. The floor was covered by fine stains of crimson and next time he fired, the bullet went straight for the Hunter's skull, spraying flesh and brain matter around. Albert made the counts: twelve rounds left in the Glock and one Hunter to go. A Vine crept past the Hunter's bloody corpse and stiffened in front of Albert, opening its jaws and showing him rows of shark-like, drooling teeth. As soon as he wanted to back away, he found himself unable: both of his ankles were tightly gripped by the Vine's roots. Next thing he felt was a root slashing his face, from his lower jawbone up to his temple. Blood poured from the wound and his head arched upwards the same time he received a punch under his ribcage. Just immediately, he felt pinches of pain on his calves, arms and neck, which rendered him unable to move as he suddenly realised what was happening.

William had finished with the hell hounds, but badly wounded. Blood was smeared across his face, the scab at his arm had weakened too much and there was a gaping gash on his collarbone. He still had the energies though, as he rammed his fist into a Hunter's gut before it could even touch him or Albert, who was the main target. He too came to the harsh realisation Albert had and running as fast as he could, his fist connected with the Vine's deadly jaw, making it lose its focus. All of the roots withdrew from Albert's body and both human and BOW fell to the ground.

Albert was pale and several wounds on his neck were bleeding profusely. Breathless, he brought himself up to one knee, but he couldn't have his rest. The remaining Hunter skidded towards him, talons arched back and eyes gleaming furiously, and the same moment it moved its arm forward, Albert imitated it and grasped the BOWs wrist, keeping the pointy talons inches away from his abdomen. Almost effortlessly, he snapped and broke the Hunter's wrist, making it scream in pain and he dealt a harsh blow to its skull, finishing his kill with just one bullet. As Albert stood up, William backed away, standing right beside him. Keeping a safe distance, they both glanced at the creatures.

"Are you alright?" William asked as he noticed every wound and signs of exhaustion across Albert's features. He simply nodded, although he himself wasn't very sure of his answer.

"Use this," he said handing William the Beretta, "Watch it and use it carefully; I'm out of magazines." William nodded gamely and adopted a shooting position, catching glimpse of the huge wound at Albert's left side of his face. Fortunately, the blood was clotting and the wound slowly closing. Tension was a palpable thing in the air, as they didn't take their eyes off the Vines. Unexpectedly, the Vines released an ear-piercing scream, their bodies writhing and racking with pain. After a few seconds, the creatures dropped down to the floor, sighing tiredly. Not willing to find out if they were unconscious or dead, Albert and William continued their race against time, a siren starting to wail above them.

The control room soon appeared on sight. The pair burst inside, training their weapons on both directions, and they found the room empty. Just noticing that detail made Albert's trepidation grow.

_Thump_.

The doors closed with a loud sound behind them and they swivelled around, wary. Right after that, a female voice spoke through the speakers: **The self-destruct system has been activated. Three minutes until explosion.**

"What the—!" William exclaimed raising his head.

_We're locked inside!_

"Three minutes?" Albert uttered in disbelief. To make matters worse, they were locked; still, he didn't have to worry. Kick it hard and it'd give in, as simple as that… or maybe not.

Albert and William both went to kick the door together, but they hit something else. They felt how a hand clutched both their feet and made them spin around in the air, as if they were just feathers. They fell down, surprisingly not feeling any pain. As they raised their eyes, their enemy became visible: Jacobs, the last of D's accomplices.

"You're not getting out so easily," he hissed, eyes twinkling wickedly. His brute strength helped him to throw Albert back against the computer panels, making him smack the back of his head with them, and he focused on William. He sent a straight axe kick to William's chest, though he grabbed his ankle and held it away from him. Albert saw his chance to intervene and not hesitating, he lunged towards Jacobs and performed a flying back kick directly to his face; Jacobs blocked it, but was sent against the door, giving William the time to spring up to his feet again.

—_We're running out of time!_, William told Albert.

—_Bad time this one's gonna give us. William, when he lunges forward, I want you to get the door open, I don't care how, got it?_

—_Right, and then we run._

—_Then we run_, Albert finished getting ready to hold Jacobs back.

"Pity. You won't be able to help her." Jacobs said with a smirk.

"**Sherry, careful!**" William heard Joanne shout. As he exclaimed, Albert's heart sped up and, seething, he clenched his fists as hard as he could. _He's dead._

**02:15** left.

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_A minute before…_

Joanne walked again into the bedroom, feeling Sherry's eyes on her at all moments. Her fear was growing by seconds and, one time, she had had a nervous breakdown; luckily though, she had calmed down soon enough. Now she was resting her head on the pillow, her intense gaze fixed only upon Joanne, but they soon fixed upon somebody else. Sherry wanted to warn Joanne, but she was too late. Joanne felt a sturdy arm lock both of hers behind her back and a hand frame her jaw. Before she could do anything, a blade was right at her neck, threatening and gleaming under the dim light. _Oh, God… oh, God!_, she panicked, looking at Sherry. The teen jolted upright, looking in disbelief and horror at the strangers.

"So this is Birkin's daughter, right?" said one of them, his voice full of wicked mirth. The one who held Joanne smirked.

"I'd say so," he simply remarked, voice low and hoarse. Joanne was quivering with fear and, on a spasm of rage, she struggled to let go.

"Don't you touch her, you—"

"Ah, ah…" the blade was pressed against her skin, "You might as well save that." The soft and soothing yet evil voice came from a young blonde man, probably in his mid-thirties, tall and skinny. His hand with long and cold fingers touched Joanne's waist and descended to her belt, remaining there. She stiffened, gulping.

"Damn, she's pretty. Too bad we just have to kill her."

"**Don't you lay a finger on her, you sorry prick!**" Albert's voice came from the other side of the earphone. The blonde frowned, then smirked, and threw away the device. He seemed to think again though, and he picked it up again, yearning to taunt Albert from miles away.

"Oh… don't worry, we're not going to do _anything_ to her…" he told him, his words tinged with evil irony. Next thing they knew, the device was crushed under his boot and he raised his grey gaze to Sherry, who had backed away and was against the wall. His smirk grew wider, "Not to her either, eh?" Joanne's attacker, an older brunette, chuckled darkly.

_Damn it, Joanne, move! You have to do something!_, Joanne urged herself. What to do? She was immobilised right on the spot, helplessly watching Sherry widen her eyes in fear. A sudden rush of energy washed away all of her fears and, gaining strength, she drove her ankle to the brunette's shin; he just winced, but it was just what she needed to do it again and hit his knee afterwards. She had found a new source of strength from deep inside her, and she wasn't going to waste it. The man backed away and Joanne punched his face, sending him a few metres back; unfortunately, her hand hurt. The blonde was right about to get to Sherry when he noticed the ruckus. He soon proceeded to finish the girl.

"Sherry, careful!" Joanne shouted as the girl rolled to one side. Joanne felt a fist against her face, and another, until she dropped to the floor, blood trickling down her nose. She heard Sherry scream her name but Joanne couldn't react. She only caught glimpse of Sherry jumping towards her attacker and knocking him down against a table, causing a ruckus as splinters and wood fell around them. Both Sherry and the man groaned, but the teen swiftly sprang to her feet grabbing a broken leg of a chair and, without hesitating, she dealt a strong blow to the man's face, scratching it violently. Without even thinking, she stabbed the man right in the middle of his chest and he, with a silent groan, dropped his head to one side, dead.

The blonde man yanked at Sherry's hair and pulled her away from his partner's corpse, placing the barrel of a gun next to her temple.

"One step and she's dead."

"Don't hurt her… please…" Joanne begged without even thinking what she was doing. He scoffed, cocking the hammer of the gun. Sherry whimpered, shutting her eyes and trembling. What she saw next was an incredible feat, even for Joanne, who was who did it.

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William coughed up blood and kept backing away, right after Albert. They were in no position to lose more time, but it was wearing them down. Albert turned around again, _moved _and appeared on the other side of the hall, telling William to make haste. He too forced his legs again and as he ran down the hall, Jacobs pursued them, no signs of exhaustion across his features. **01:10**.

"Go, go!" William said when he reached Albert's side. Taking the sharp right that would lead them to the trapdoor and, from there, to the outside, Albert jumped, turning around, and landed with a swift movement.

"Get yourself out of here!"

"Like hell I will!" William shot back, furious.

"You have more important things to care about, for chrissake!" Albert shouted, annoyed by his persistence. William did not say anything else; instead, he ran forward and pushed Jacobs out of Albert's way.

"Like you, for example?!" he snapped at him. Albert frowned and attacked, rewarding Jacobs with one of his thrust punches. He back-flipped and counterattacked, giving Albert a taste of his own medicine. Jacobs was careless though: William struck his face with his knee, breaking his nose.

"Stall him!" Albert commanded as he moved forward again. **00:30.**

"Half a minute, Albert! We have to get out!"

"Listen to me: not until I say so!" William hesitated and was about to argue one more time, but he had to turn his focus to Jacobs once more, who imitated his prior move. As William flew away, Albert punched Jacobs again, full of anger and rage, but he jumped, flipped forward and struck Albert right on his nape with his ankle. Jacobs brought him down to the ground stepping on top of him and letting his entire weight crush Albert's spine.

"Jacobs might be strong, but he's too SLOW!," William said out loud as he turned around and fired his gun. This time, he hadn't lost it, whereas Albert had. The bullets riddled Jacobs' chest, fine sprays of crimson staining the air around them. Albert quickly stood up and withdrew, yet he knew Jacobs wasn't dead yet. **00:10.**

"GO!" He shouted with all his might as William complied and climbed up the steps.

**00:09.**

William pushed the trapdoor open, welcoming the cool noon air that touched his face and quickly stepped away from the exit, letting Albert poke his head through it.

**00:03.**

"C'mon!" He urged Albert hauling him out. The pair ran away, hoping their bodies wouldn't give in given the circumstances, but their legs were as if shouting at them to stop and give them some rest. Though they didn't, and kept running as fast as they could, feeling it was almost over, just two seconds for it to end…

**00:00.**

The insides of the facility started exploding, killing every creature inside, destroying every room, tool and structure. It was as if tongues of flame endlessly licked the building, reducing it to nothing more than rubble. Endless booms were heard and, engulfed by a cloud of smoke, the facility collapsed into a heat of rubble. The force of the explosion caused Albert and William to fall onto the snow, staining it crimson, and they both looked back at the same time, the same expression on their faces.

They were out.

"Holy…" William's voice trailed off, his gaze full of disbelief. Albert smirked, breathing heavily.

"I told you…" he whispered. Feeling tiredness and relief run through him, Albert lay upon the snow and checked the vials. His body soon relaxed the same moment his fingertips made contact with the cool vials, and he took one out, looking at it as his wistfulness disappeared. _Finally… _He noticed William's inquiring yet mad gaze, and his face was again an impassive mask.

"I'll tell you when we get back." He told him. William was not mad though, yet he seemed to be. Helping Albert to stand, his mind though only one thing: they were coming back. The silence that reigned between them was interrupted by Joanne's shaky voice.

"**William, Albert, are**—?**" **she started asking, yet William silenced her. Albert, who had heard her words, eased at the sound of her voice: he somehow felt a necessity to see her, or even more: to hold her. _Damn, I'm soft now_, he told himself, smiling inwardly. At the same time, William felt a smile flicker across his face, and he spoke soothingly.

"We're alright, and we're coming back."

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A/N: Hey! Everything's over now! I tried to make it as intense as possible xDDDD Oh, and I've given a hint at something I'll deal with in later chapters and stories, so stay tuned! I'll give you a clue: it's Joanne.

Hope you enjoyed, and review, but no flames please.  
-Chris


	22. Chapter 21: Unbreakable

**Author's Note:** Yeeeuuh, I'm updatin' again! xDDD Okay, this chapter doesn't give a lot of information, just focusing on Albert and William's return. After reading this, you might think bad of me, but there's quite the author's note at the end explaining certain emphasizing. Enjoy, anyways! xD

**Special thanks to Hobohunter and Divine Arion.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

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21

Unbreakable

They walked calmly under the warm spring sun, the snow crunching underfoot. If the fire would attract people's attention, they didn't care, though they were far away at that moment. There was a fairly tense silence between them that none of them wanted to break, it'd be pointless if they did. William felt his happiness match with his preoccupation: what would happen then? He made an instant decision: to stay with Albert, yet what would that bring? Another argument, or could they set aside their differences and start again? Of course, he would be forgiven, but it would be something William would not forget so easily. Again, a thought nagged him, something he had already told Joanne.

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"_I actually trusted him, even with my life."… __ "I admit it, he's always had his bitterness in him, we've acted through life coldly quite a number of times, but he too had his point!"… "I actually thought I was a friend to him and indeed, he told me once, and I knew he was being sincere. But that's when I made my mistake."…_

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Trying to go unnoticed, William looked at Albert, and found his expression as unreadable as always. Giving up, he almost sighed tiredly, but lowering his head afterwards gave away his feelings. Albert did not seem to care, yet he did, too much in fact. How to describe it, he wondered. He'd have to talk with him… again, but it'd change a lot of things and, finally, Albert would get to say what he thought and put all of his concepts in the right order. Having them messing around in his mind was something that bothered him.

As they closed in on the urban area, they spotted the house and this time, William wanted to run and burst inside, but his consideration anchored him in his place. Though when he sensed Albert's gaze upon him, he shyly returned it and received the signal he had been waiting for. Without hesitating, he briskly jogged to the door and opened it carefully, nervousness gnawing at him. Opening the door, he found the main room empty but Sherry trotting down the stairs made him turn his attention to them. Her figure became visible and the Birkins' countenances changed, filling up with bliss. Sherry felt it: just seeing William safe made all spark of life return to her and, with a grin etched across her face, she jumped the steps and both father and daughter hugged each other tightly.

"Sherry! Thank God you're alright… I was so worried about you…" William exclaimed, holding her as if she were to vanish into thin air, "Thank heavens…" Sherry grinned, but tears of concern flooded her sapphire gaze.

"I could say the same, dad… I almost had a heart attack!" William laughed at her remark, in spite of everything, and all tension, everything was replaced by his joy. To top it all, Joanne appeared in less than a second, greeting him with a beaming smile. His grin widened at her kind gesture.

"Damn it, you had us worried!" she said giving him a hug after Sherry stepped back. William's demeanour changed, expressing his surprise, and Joanne immediately noticed it. It hadn't been more than three seconds when she separated, flushing and looking away. Joanne laughed nervously, "I'm sorry, but…"

"It's alright. It's good to see you're okay, too," he replied genuinely, "Wait, where's Albert?" he wondered, noticing his absence, "He was right behind me." Joanne walked past the Birkins and was about to exit the house when Albert stepped right in front of her. Their eyes met, Joanne's heart skipped a beat and then, she was truly surprised at Albert's gesture: there was a genuine smile across his face. Joanne didn't hesitate; he didn't either: they embraced each other tightly, Joanne relaxing as his arms wrapped around her.

"I thought you weren't coming back," she said after sighing, "Yet here you are."

"Slight change in plans," Albert replied taking her hand. William's smile vanished from his face as he raised his brow.

"What change of plans, if I might inquire?" he asked in a funny tone.

"It's something you two—" he gestured at them with his head, "—and me need to talk about. But after we've settled down of course."

"I can be there, right? So that way I can make sure William does _not_ leave without a smack." Laughed Joanne. William did too, catching her hint.

"What are you talking about?" asked Albert.

"Kind of a long story, also," his friend replied, "But yeah, it's better we settle down first. Oh, which reminds me, are you alright Joanne?" Albert's expression immediately hardened and he became serious as he glanced at her, inquiring.

"Yeah, we both are. The matter can wait though, I… disposed of 'em? To put it that way…" she said nervously as she separated, "It's rather strange what happened." Joanne closed the door, trying to shrug her uneasiness off.

"Hm, okay." Albert uttered turning his head away. Joanne was lucky enough to glance at Albert's feet, which she found completely bare. Seeing he was starting to move, she had to swallow back her words, action which was rewarded by one of Albert's short smirks. William and Sherry received a glance from him, as unreadable and neutral as always, and Albert got lost around the corner in the stairs.

"You should too get some rest, dad. We're fine." Said Sherry. William smiled and rubbed her upper arms.

"I'm fine too and—" he suddenly winced and interrupted himself, "—and I should check my leg, as it seems it's bothering again." William slowly limped to the armchair and had a look at his itching part. It looked even worse than before; the skin had wrinkled, as if ready to fall apart, and the wounds weren't certainly going to close at that rate.

"I can stitch that before it gets even worse." Said Sherry, tilting her head to one side. She caught notice of Joanne and William's scepticism, which made her feel more confident, "I know I'm not in the best state, but you seem to forget I'm ambidextrous: I still can use my left hand." Then, she winked an eye at her father, who sighed, admitting she was right. When Joanne handed her a first aid and sewing kit, Sherry nodded briskly and started working. Joanne smiled and, after telling them where she was going, she turned around and climbed up the stairs, leaving the Birkins alone.

"Okay… Could you hold the needle?" Sherry asked, raising it. William did as told and Sherry put the thread through the needle's eye. She took it afterwards and, with the wounds visible, she carefully started stitching them. William couldn't stop looking at her; his eyes were fixed upon her, as if obsessed. But, after almost losing her, he couldn't help feeling like that. He desired to stay with her and, more importantly, to make her happy again. How was the question, though. William would have to talk to Albert and, now that he remembered, he had mentioned the same thing. For now, William decided not to think about it and he delighted in Sherry's company, trying to restrain his impulses.

Ten minutes later, Sherry finished and made the knot. She cut the remaining thread and sighed. William noticed faint rings under her eyes and her demeanour had changed, giving away her tiredness and concern.

"Feeling better?" she asked him with a feeble smile. William nodded and moved to his right, motioning at Sherry to sit next to him. Without thinking it twice, she agreed, climbed up and instantly leaned against him, relaxing in his company. William was surprised; after their last talk, he had thought Sherry would act a little different towards him, but it was good to see she still was the loving girl she always was. Kindly, he put an arm around her shoulders and sighed, beaming.

"I'm more than proud of you, Sherry. I can't tell you how much it relieves me to see you're fine." He said. Sherry smiled and looked into his eyes, hers shining with glee, "Tell me something, Sherry: what about starting over again?" he then asked her. Sherry raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked away, frowning.

"But—"

"I know who you're going to include in there; don't worry about him," he interrupted kindly. His countenance changed then, looking at her seriously, yet there was a tinge of sadness in his blue hues, "I'm talking about you, and I think it's time you receive some attention from me. I was engrossed in my work and… and I don't know how I didn't pay attention to you. Still, the moment I knew you were involved in this, even before, the moment I knew you and your mother were in danger, I instantly regretted one thing: not being with both of you as much as I wanted to. I was a fool, unable to see how much you needed me. Since all of this has come to an end, I want to make it up to you, definitely. I couldn't make it up to Annette, but I am going to try with you… that's if you want me to, of course."

Sherry was almost left speechless but, after a few seconds and even without thinking, she gave him a beaming smile again and hugged him warmly, showing her brimming fondness of him. And even more, the love that still remained in her heart, like an inextinguishable flame that would burn forever.

"I'd gladly stay with you… and if everything went alright, imagine! Besides, you asked for a chance and I'm giving it to you; in fact, I wouldn't and didn't hesitate. I just want to be with you again, even if… even if it's just this instant." She replied genuinely. Appalled, surprised and thankful, William laughed.

"Just this instant?" he repeated, "You might want to correct that because, as I told you, I'm not leaving you alone again. Though that doesn't mean I'll be overprotective."

It was Sherry's turn to laugh now, "I'm not worried about that. On a side note, is that all you'll think about?"

"Who do you take me for?! I mean, really…" William exclaimed shaking his head, "I sometimes don't and won't know how to deal with you."

"Too late to reconsider!" smiled Sherry. They both laughed this time, the bond that joined them strengthening more than ever… unbreakable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leaning against the door, which was ajar, Albert gave a short smirk as he heard William's laugh. Surprisingly, it was something that put him at ease, and Albert himself didn't know why. _I'd better correct myself: I know, though I don't want to admit it yet._

"It's nice to hear that," remarked Joanne, agreeing with his thoughts. He turned around and faced her, his eyes gleaming amusedly from under his shades.

"And it'll be nicer to hear this: he's leaving." He replied, folding his arms across his chest and walking towards her. Joanne cocked her head to her side, her brow furrowing lightly as Albert sat next to her.

"Leaving?" she echoed, searching for his gaze.

"Yes, he's not going to stay with us anymore."

"Wait, is it a decision he made or…" Joanne's voice trailed away, as feeling Albert's gaze upon her gave her the answer, "You're sending him away?"

"He has Sherry with him now, and I'd wager he's going to mention the matter once he's up for the talk. That laugh of his just tells you he's eager to leave as soon as he can." Albert said, shrugging.

"But I'd say he too wants to stay. I mean, out of what he told me…" Her voice trailed away once more, looking away and flushing. Albert's demeanour changed, and he raised his eyebrows and gave a lopsided smirk, amused and curious at the same time.

"Oh… and what did he tell you?" he asked. Albert realised he wanted and didn't want to know, but chose to know: it would soon be his turn to do likewise.

"Well…" Joanne hesitated at first, but then she came up with quite a witty answer, "Some things are better left unsaid. If you want to know, ask him personally."

"Don't do this to me." Albert chuckled, turning his head away and rolling his eyes. Even him, also Joanne, was impressed at how light-hearted he could be some times, especially when around her. Soft? Her company was something he had needed for quite a long time, after having found somebody as special as her, but at the same time it was something he didn't want to have. It hurt caring for somebody, it hurt finding yourself grieving for a lost somebody, because Albert had thought his entire life that weakness only came from feelings… yet it also gave you the strength to carry on. Albert remembered: after hearing Joanne in trouble, the only thought that had driven his actions had been getting Joanne to safety, to try to get there as soon as possible to protect her… because he didn't want to lose her.

"Albert?" called Joanne, taking him out of his musing, "Are you alright?" Joanne's eyes showed her concern, and Albert shook his head.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"Something troubling you?" Joanne asked, taking his hand. His gaze found hers, which was full of her usual warmth and affection, and he smirked.

"Nothing that can't wait." He said, his voice becoming fainter by the second. Joanne smiled and leaned in, making all feelings inside Albert awake from deep inside his soul. And being light-hearted led him to kiss her, satisfying his and her desires. He could feel it; love flowing again through his veins like an unstoppable current and his desire increasing by the second. _I… can't… let it consume me! _Albert was fighting against himself, but he soon came to realise it would be a futile attempt to win. Joanne's lips were tempting, taunting… and he simply couldn't resist them. He finally decided to give in, to enjoy… because it was something he'd take full delight in. Albert leaned in closer, touching her forehead with his, leaving his gleaming crimson eyes visible to Joanne and locking them with her brown gaze. They delighted in watching each other, gasping, and their lips met again, Albert's almost eager to touch hers. Albert wouldn't forget how it felt… not so easily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(March 23__rd__, 2005. 06:00 am)._

Albert awoke from his slumber, feeling better than ever before. He noticed something heavy upon his chest and looked down. He was somehow scared to find out it was Joanne's head that rested upon it and he stifled a sigh, yet he scolded himself. _God, what am I doing?_, he asked himself looking at the ceiling, _And thankfully it hasn't come _that_ far. I'm too much of an idiot already…_ Deciding to clear his mind before everybody awoke and a new day dawned, he carefully slid from Joanne's sleeping figure and stood up, taking one last look at her before exiting the room. Whilst making his way to the door, he snatched his sunglasses from the drawer, rested them upon his nose and left the room. He closed the door behind him and exhaled, closing his eyes and not taking his hand off the handle. With a grunt, Albert shook his head and made his way downstairs, only to find William casually sitting on the armchair and reading a book. Albert remembered: aside from an enthusiastic worker, William too was an avid reader.

His friend noticed him and his blue hues met Albert's, "As early as always." William remarked, closing the book. Albert shrugged. _As if I hadn't had enough._

"It's the habit. How are you?"

William shrugged now, "I'm alright, thanks for asking. I take it you're feeling fine, too?" Albert nodded, not even satisfied with his own lie, "I might seem a little bit forward, but I want to know as soon as possible. Answer me this: was it for our sake that you left?"

Albert breathed in deep and exhaled again, bothered by the question. Yet he would have to answer it, so why complaint?, "Actually I did. And this might seem stupid, uncommon, you name it… But I couldn't worry more about you both. After we argued for the last time—" _"Too bad this has to end."… "I quote you: 'Get used to the idea'."…_ "—I instantly knew I had made a mistake but, at the same time, I also knew it would be the best… for every one of us. I went to deactivate Sherry's device, or at least try to, and then I'd leave; I wouldn't even say anything.

"I've never wanted to suffer for anybody's sake but…" Albert made a short pause, actually finding it difficult to continue; William's eyes were clearly reflecting his surprise and scepticism. Albert was genuinely scared about finding William scoffing at his words, yet sooner or later he'd find himself in the situation he was living, "But I have to say you were actually worth it. Also, I feel it was quite the egoistic thought, not worrying about anyone, but it hurt so much… But damn it, I even regretted everything that happened!" he then exclaimed through gritted teeth, "I… I can't even explain myself…" Albert turned around, frustrated, and sighed heavily.

As a tense silence reigned between them, William sprang to his feet and, approaching Albert, he hesitantly yet warmly laid a hand upon his shoulder. Albert obviously was averting his gaze, sign William took as his effort to hide his 'weakness'.

"Albert…"

"There's no need to say anything."

"Actually, there is," William shot back bluntly, "Albert, you're my best friend… well, you're my only friend, truth be told. You must be thinking I must hate you after everything and… well…" he chuckled nervously, "You've quite seen some of my outbursts… but I can't simply turn my back on you. And… I have to say thank you and… and I'm sorry. I should've known better. It's confusing and frustrating, isn't it? To feel…"

"To feel your friendship with somebody is hateful yet special at the same time?" Albert finished, facing him, "Yes, it is."

"I never expected you'd do that for me, for _us_, if I might add. Thanks again."

"There's no need to thank me," Albert replied, smiling feebly, "Tell me: care to start anew?"

William nodded, "I gladly would." Somehow, Albert knew everything was just like before. Though he couldn't be very hopeful that there were no bitter feelings in William; then again, he would understand. But their trust was back, the bond had strengthened… so much it was yet again unbreakable. Albert's smile grew wider.

"After all, you're the better half of the team, right?"

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A/N: Alright, they're back! xDDD And here's the explanation: I quite wanted to flesh Albert's character out; that's why I inserted Joanne into the story in the first place. The moment he shares with her in this chapter reflects his inner conflict: he doesn't want to appear weak, he doesn't want to give in to his emotions, but he's already admitted Joanne into his life again and he can't help it. He somehow _needs_ her to be with him. That's the path I'm taking with him, and that's why I emphasize so much in his feelings, because it's really amusing to do it. Once you know the feeling, it's piece of cake xD I wouldn't like to receive negative feedback out of this; if I do, I understand. It's not very common to see this 'side' of Albert's personality xDDD

Leave your opinions, but please, no flames.


	23. Chapter 22: Plans for a future

**Author's Note:** Another update. Alright, a couple of things to say: there's only one chapter left and the epilogue; second, luckily, it's not the end of the series. I'll be posting the Preludes, which will be two parts explaining Rachel's involvement and Albert and William's background on this story, so stay tuned! I'm sad about the story coming to an end, but I'm actually really excited to start with the other stories. Enjoy!^^ Things are getting tough.

**Special thanks to Divine Arion and Hobohunter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

**Note: **There are a few sentences underlined in here, which are hints at something that's going to happen, and something bad (I'm evil). Let's see if you can figure somethin' out.

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22

Plans for a future

_(March 23__rd__, 2005)._

"_Are you alright, Albert?"… "Hey, answer me!"…_

_His body burnt like fire as if he was lying upon embers and he was sweating. There hadn't been a single moment in which the pain had faded away and it was exhausting him to the limit.__ Albert fell on all fours, fighting against his urge to scream… but it was futile. A painful howl rose from his throat._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albert closed his head and was tempted to move his head away, but that would alert his companions. The memory haunted his mind once more, not willing to go away. It was painful just thinking about it, and he could've sworn he had relived the situation. Shrugging off his feelings about the matter, he concentrated on listening again to Joanne, who was giving her explanation.

"We disposed of the bodies afterwards and God… I remember I was so afraid. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it."

"And I killed one of them. Out of pure survival instinct! I- I don't know if I'll forgive myself." Exclaimed Sherry, looking concernedly at her father. He just shook his head, reassuring her.

"It was the right thing to do." He simply told her.

"They were also working for the Agency, as we could find out after taking a look at their IDs." Added Joanne. Albert frowned.

"Jacobs must have sent them while we were with Heap…" he mused.

"What about her?" asked Joanne, concern in her face.

"She didn't make it out. Nobody did. D and Heap killed each other and then, the whole place became swarmed with BOWs, and before they escaped and caused an outbreak, we had to blow the building up. Self-destruct system, to sum it up." William replied. Joanne lowered her head with a sigh.

"But tell us, how come you _almost_ got killed? You said something strange happened." Albert spoke, starting to dig into the matter. Joanne immediately lifted her head, trying to remember what happened.

"It's just that I did something… I didn't even expect I would: in less than a second, I walked… walked? No, _moved_ in front of that man, I knocked the gun off his hand and hit him so hard I came to kill him. I don't know how I could do that, but thankfully, I did." She said, lowering her head. Albert frowned even more, narrowing his eyes under his shades. Silence reigned between the four as Albert thought about the matter. _To move so fast… It could be a genetic enhancing or the results of a virus injection like it happened with me; those are the two reasons I can think of. Which else? And, if it was a genetic enhancing or an injection, who would have given it to her? And what did she— _Albert came to the conclusion he was looking for, the answer in front of his eyes.

"I think I have something too." Said William, gazing at him from the chair, "And I'd wager you've come to the same conclusion."

"If that's the case, you see it makes clear sense, right?" he asked. William nodded, serious. Noticing Joanne's inquiring eyes, Albert proceeded to explain, "As we already know, to cure you after the accident you had you spent eight years in treatment and your father administered you a mix of the T-virus with one of your substances, right? I'm guessing that might've led to you developing abilities similar to mine, that's quite for certain. The concoction however… the question is what it had."

"If you're thinking why my virus gave you your abilities and, through other means, why Joanne has acquired them, my virus and the substance administered to her could've shared similar traits. I seem to remember… my virus had a strain derived from the T-virus; that might've been it."

"Seems plausible, if it wasn't for this inconvenient: you developed the virus quite after Joanne died… right?" asked Albert, growing suspicious.

"Actually, they kept dosing me to prevent anomalies even after I made it out of the hospital, Albert. It was in '85."

"And I started the research back '88." William chimed in.

"They kept dosing you for three years?" Albert inquired. Joanne nodded as an answer, "Plausible indeed. It might've been the doses. If you don't mind, I—"

"Uh-uh." William muttered, coming to another conclusion. All eyes focused on him, and Albert leaned his chin forward, inquiring.

"Why the negative gesture?" he asked, composed. William breathed in deep and explained.

"I know what you're thinking, Albert, and it's going to be impossible obtaining a sample of the agent out of a blood test. Reason is it's bonded with her whole organism and, without disappearing completely, it has dissolved and has affected her cells. It's kind of like an aspirin, if you look at it that way. The cells of the agent have bonded with hers, completely altering her organism. Proof is yourself, your body's changed completely. It would be impossible to extract a sample from you because of the reason mentioned before." William explained calmly. It was too much of a feat for him because, if it wasn't for the actual topic, he would've lost it and everything would've come out.

"Quite the inconvenience it is." Said Albert uncomfortably looking away.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, or am I wrong?" asked Joanne, her voice almost trembling.

"Albert's perfectly fine; I don't see why you should have any problems." William replied. Joanne relaxed, but some of her concern didn't disappear, "We can't discard any physical changes, however, but considering the substances _might_ be similar, maybe nothing happens."

"Changing the subject," Albert spoke again, giving Joanne the hint of their last conversation, "Tell me, William, what are you planning to do now?"

The question caught him off guard, "I was thinking of uh… Bah, I actually hadn't thought of anything." A smirk appeared on Albert's face, which gave him a bad feeling… again, "I don't like that. What are you planning?"

"If that's the case, I've got the perfect offer: you get home and forget about me."

"What?" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Predictable. William, you have Sherry under your care again, I would just endanger you both—"

"Endanger us?"

"—And you can clearly tell you're wishing to start over," Albert continued ignoring his remark, "Also, you really need to watch your voice tone."

"No way, you heard us yesterday?" asked Sherry, finally opening her mouth. Joanne looked at her and smiled warmly.

"Almost the whole thing, really." She replied, making Sherry flush. William laughed nervously and lowered his head. When William looked at Albert, he noticed his caring expression, something that convinced him of his words.

"What are _you_ going to do?" William asked then.

"I need to settle some things." Albert replied, trying to fend off the chance of replying sincerely. Pushing him away would be the best thing… no matter how much it bugged him, "Think about it: you have your chance right in front of you. Don't waste it."

William sighed heavily, then agreed, "You're right, though it'll be difficult to get used to it. Besides, who did you take me for? Me, forget? Not even if you forced me," His tone cheered everyone up. He then turned to Sherry, whose eyes were gleaming, "Say, ready to go home?" Sherry nodded firmly, her happiness growing to a contagious state. Albert and William shared one last look before he exited the room, a look that didn't need to be accompanied by any words.

"Isn't it great?!" Sherry exclaimed, standing up and hugging William, "Dad, thank you!"

"I promised, didn't I?"

"Though you were kind of hesitant," said Joanne kindly, "I can see why, by the way, completely understandable."

William smiled, "Yeah, it's kind of… strange and somehow disheartening to know we're going different ways now, but I think it's the best choice. Besides, good thing everything's settled now."

"Oh, are you finally on good terms again?" asked Joanne. William didn't mind the question and replied casually.

"Yeah, just this morning. And I hope it lasts long enough again…" His voice trailed away and they stayed in silence. William tried to control his nervousness, despite the situation, because now that he realised… he couldn't have lied any better.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, after gathering everything they needed and making the proper arrangements, the four left for the airport, which took them quite a while since they were on the outskirts of the main city centre. Wind blew pretty strongly, shaking violently the trees and slapping the whole area. It was a beautiful night, Albert thought, one in which their lives would change again.

_(March 24__th__, 2005. 20:45 pm)_

They had already spent fifteen minutes in the terminal and it was just a matter of time till the Birkins would have to leave. Everything was set and going well, until William and Joanne received quite the news coming from Albert, who had just returned from getting the boarding cards. As he handed them to the pair, he sat down and crossed one leg and his arms across his chest.

"We caused a good commotion the other day," he said in a low voice. They instantly caught the hint.

"It's in the news?" asked William, not believing his ears. Albert nodded, as calm as ever.

"Nosy journalists, like always. And you know what? Your 'disappearance', Joanne, is still making headlines. Looks like you were more important than imagined," Added Albert. Joanne gasped, but then chuckled.

"They're still looking for me? They won't give up, eh? Oh well, they're not gonna find me, that's for sure. Or at least, I'll try to go by unnoticed."

"I think that's going to be easy for you," William teased, referring to her fringe. _How can I be so calm? I have to tell him!_, he thought conserving his smile, _But… I still haven't made it out! If I tell him, Sherry will be put in danger again! Oh… Oh, God…_ William was starting to lose it and, much to his fortune, his flight's departure was being announced. He tried to stand up as calmly and casually as he could, yet he still overdid it. He looked at Albert, who didn't seem suspicious about anything and kept his poker face. William found him in a strange stance, at least strange for him: Albert had his hand held out, ready to grasp William's in a firm shake. In silence, William took it; Albert wouldn't say anything, he certainly wasn't in favour.

"Take care now, alright?" said Joanne, tilting her head. They took shook hands firmly, and Sherry took another path: she embraced Joanne for a second and then stepped away, beaming. Another smile appeared across Joanne's face, and she and Albert watched the Birkins walk away. At midway, William halted and turned around.

"We'll see each other again, right?" he asked loud enough for Albert to hear. Simply, he nodded and finally spoke.

"I hope so." His words made William's heart speed up: he suddenly came to the realisation that, when they met again, it wouldn't be under the best circumstances. _I can be sure of that and, simply, he's not going to forgive me… That I know. __Albert, I'm sorry._Without any other words, William followed Sherry and they both disappeared behind a corner. Joanne raised her head to Albert, inquiring.

"You haven't even said anything."

A smile flickered across Albert's face, "He didn't need to hear me talk. He already had his answer." He simply replied. Joanne sighed, pleased and not pleased with his answer, yet she didn't insist anymore. Then it clicked: Albert felt his suspicion triggered by William's reactions. _I can't get him to tell me now… if there's something he kept to himself. To be or not to be considerate, that's the question._ Albert turned around and walked to the exit, with Joanne following closely. She noticed a remarkable change in his demeanour: his expression became much colder, his chin was leaned forward, detail that instantly filled her with fear, and under his appearance, Joanne knew there was something else… something she didn't like.

"Ready to start anew, Joanne?" he asked, rather wickedly.

"I stayed with you because of that; I'm not leaving so easily." She replied, placing herself next to him. They shared a look, and Albert allowed himself an inner smirk.

"Good. I can let you in on some things, then, but that will be when we get back." He said starting to walk. Joanne was struck by his words, _What have I gotten myself into?_

Albert thought about everything: he had what he had been looking for, he was still alive to return with the Corporation, he had the means of obtaining his revenge… he actually liked to think he had everything. And the smirk appeared on his face, unknown to Joanne. He would soon accomplish his objectives.

There were so many things he had planned… and the step he'd take next was only the beginning.

* * *

A/N: Alrighty, here it ends. Let me 'hear' (it's actually read xDD) what you think. But no flames, please.


	24. Chapter 23: Arrangements

**Author's Note:** Updating again. I'm telling you: last chapter before the epilogue. I'm sad this is coming to an end, but anyway. There are more hints on this one, so keep your eyes on every word. Enjoy!^^

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs.**

**Special thanks to Divine Arion and Hobohunter.**

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23

Arrangements

_(March 26__th__, 2005. 15:02 pm)._

Albert looked through the files on his USB only to find there were more than expected. Revising all of the new ones, he soon discovered they were William's and his notes on the GOD virus. _Now I remember I copied them, _he thought browsing through his call log. Thankfully, he found the number he was looking for: TriCell. Albert stood up from his seat, leaving his cell phone on speaker upon the table, and walked up to the window. Again, it was raining; as it seemed, it would be the only thing he'd see whenever he looked through one. As he watched the rain fall, the dial tone still rang in his ears and suddenly, somebody picked up.

"_Who is it?_" a female voice asked. Albert turned around, not recognising it, and added to his politeness his typical tinge of coldness.

"I believe I'm speaking with TriCell Italy?" he asked, crossing his arms. The woman was silent for a second, until her voice broke the silence again.

"_Yes, sir_," she replied, correcting her previous rudeness. _Very good,_ Albert thought, _Let's get on to business._

"I'd like to talk with the facility manager, please, unless he is unavailable." In that same moment, Joanne knocked on the door and entered inside silently. Albert motioned at her to remain quiet and to listen, orders with which Joanne complied. By the static and the small noises that came and filled the room, both could tell they'd soon get to hear from the manager. And so it was.

"_Marco Gionne speaking. Who am I talking with?_" he asked with quite the Italian accent in his voice. Albert couldn't help a smirk.

"Mr. Gionne… it's good to hear from you." He said, intentionally inflecting his voice. Marco was silent, spoke in Italian and then, the noise from the background and the slight static disappeared, and Marco's voice came clearly through the speaker.

"_Mr. Wesker, is it you?_" he asked in disbelief. Albert remembered: although he was still with the 'S' Corporation as of last year, he had been in touch with Gionne a small number of times and, apparently, he had remembered his voice, "_But we thought…_"

"Yes, I know what you thought, though it's not the time to explain, I'm afraid. I have a proposition for you, one that might give another push to the company. I take it you're in private now, are you? Say, interested in hearing it?" Albert intervened.

"_Of course,_" Marco replied. _Hm, why would you waste the opportunity?_, Albert thought taking the parasite vials out of the drawer. Joanne raised her brow; she hadn't seen them until now.

"There's a new type of parasite circulating around and I've managed to get some samples of it. I was wondering if you'd like to study it and use it for whatever you see it can be helpful."

"_A new parasitic organism… Hm, the only I'm aware of is 'Las Plagas'. Is it actually the one you're mentioning?_" Albert immediately dropped his façade, concern etched across his features; still, his voice didn't falter.

"It is indeed. How come you knew about it, if you don't mind me asking?" he had to choose his words carefully: one bad step and everything would go to hell… certainly not in his interest.

"_I've recently known about dealers in the black market that smuggle the samples. We were interested in acquiring one, though I wouldn't like to tarnish our reputation. I take it you understand._" Marco explained casually. _Oh, how I can see where you're planning to get at_, Albert reasoned, instantly catching Marco's intentions. Another step and he was in business.

"Well, I guess I can provide you with them. Can we make an appointment?"

"_It'll be a pleasure to meet you in person, Mr. Wesker. What about Monday noon, in my office?_" Marco asked, delighted. Albert looked at Joanne, who nodded.

"It's Saturday today. I suggest you make it Tuesday." She whispered. It was Albert's turn to nod this time, and relayed Joanne's words to Marco.

"It'd be better if you made it Tuesday noon, actually. Of course, if that's not a problem for you."

"_No, I'm not busy that day. So, Tuesday it is. I'll be expecting you, Mr. Wesker._"

"I'll be there." Albert said and then he hung up. Joanne walked up to him, noticing his still present concern in his blue hues, "I somehow don't like this. If the samples are already in the black market, that only means the Agency has still samples of the parasite. It's going to be difficult to pinpoint the exact suppliers."

"Maybe we can take advantage of that. You've been with the Agency. Did you have some kind of, uh, identification number or, you know, a tag? Because I don't you'd be giving out your name to whoever asked for it." Joanne chimed in.

"Interesting point you're trying to make." Said Albert.

"It's just like the Group did: we establish a bogus identity which will be helping TriCell obtain parasite samples while, at the same time, we keep some for us," she said and then, Joanne picked up one of the vials, "Looks horrible, but still it's called my attention. I guess we can do that."

"Still, it's also going to be difficult to pick out which of the dealers work with the Agency. Wrong, I'd better correct myself. If we're supposedly another Agency identity, dealers who are related might get to provide us with the samples." Mused Albert, crossing his arms again, "We just need to use false identities. Nice thinking."

Joanne shrugged, "I guess I'd better make myself useful now. Say, you got these while in the Agency building the other day?"

"Yes, and they're going to help us carry on. Let's get on to work, then."

"I can start booking everything and you certainly don't need to worry about residence." Said Joanne as Albert walked to the door. He spun on his heels, reflecting his curiosity, "I got a penthouse," she told him with a smirk.

"Oh, then the next surprise is that you have a palace in London." He remarked with scepticism. Joanne looked away.

"Believe what you want, I'm not kidding."

"I know you're not. You're rich, after all." He shot back, making his exit, "So am I." Joanne smiled and chuckled shaking her head, and started to work. Albert, meanwhile, went down the stairs and prepared their equipment for the trip, slowly but surely. As he worked, he found the nagging feeling still tugging at his chest, giving him to wonder about the flashbacks. Albert remembered again: it was from the days in which William worked with him… trying to bring him back after meeting his second demise. They weren't pleasant memories, and he fought to shrug them off. _God, doesn't dying give you a lot to think about…_ He packed the parasite vials in an attaché case, research notes and data in their respective folders and as he stood up, he called Joanne.

"You were calling?" she said, instantly appearing on the stair landing.

"Have you booked flights yet?" Albert asked. Joanne shook her head, telling him she was just about to, "Well don't. I have my means. Meanwhile, do check if there are any papers or documents through the floor, I don't want to leave anything upon a desk."

"Sure thing." She said and left without another word. Joanne knew Albert would come up with something, and Albert knew she wouldn't insist on the matter, so everything was cool. He soon finished packing everything and then, it suddenly clicked, and Albert had a hunch.

_Why haven't I thought of it before? It must be in__ the USB too; I can look it up there_. As he went up the stairs in pairs, Albert frowned, _I still do have the feeling that William's lied to me about something…Maybe not exactly lie, but he's kept something, and important, which is my guess. And I've let it pass once; I'm not making the same mistake again. Why am I thinking it's got something to do with me?_ His musings led him straight to the computer, at the moment unused, and in just a flash, he was navigating through the folders again. He soon felt disappointed, the feeling striking him like a blow to the gut.

_Now of all times… __Let's keep looking, though…_

The files he was looking for were the reports on both their projects, his own the one in which he was most interested. To his surprise, it was unknown to him whether the files had been copied or not, since he didn't remember (another detail that surprised him). Keeping his cool, he was about to browse through other folders when it came up. Albert instantly opened it and read it carefully. The report was short, but detailed enough, and Albert leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms and took especial interest in a line, which gave him something else to wonder about.

"_Virus balance__ is __stable__, no anomalies detected. __Strain A and strain B__ symbiosis: __successful.__"_

_Strain A… that could be, supposedly, William's virus… but strain B, I'm not so certain about it. __As far as I know, the only viral agent I had in my body was his, though I could also consider it's been another virus strain to help in my development. William's had a derived strain of T, as I recall. Either strain B is unmodified T-virus or it's a strain of another virus… but which? _

Two more knocks on the door made him come back to reality and Albert found Joanne at the door as he spun around in his chair.

"There's nothing scattered around, and I've done a thorough search. If you don't mind me asking, what are those means you have?"

"Contacts and, fortunately, ones you can rely on. To not call any attention and since I certainly don't like crowded places, to be honest, we're going on our own. I'll see if I can get her to ready her plane for tonight. Just so you know, I've travelled alone all my life, so I haven't needed much."

"Yeah, I get the hint," said Joanne walking inside. From then on, the ambient was consumed by silence, a rather uncomfortable one. Albert's expression changed again, becoming ice cold and emotionless as he examined her, noticing something strange in her face. Her wavy hair was pulled back, revealing her scars, and that was what was wrong: they had changed, blending with her skin again as if nothing had happened, highlighting her beauty and giving her a youthful look.

_This is getting to me. I'm becoming too stressed, and I need to calm down_, he thought clenching his jaw, _I can't shake the feeling off, however._ A knot of trepidation formed at his stomach, gnawed by doubts and suspicion, emotions which grew as Joanne's image became burned into his mind, unable to shake it off either. All the clues he had only led to the same conclusion, one that was hard to admit… but plausible. Albert stood up from his seat, refusing to look at Joanne and baring his teeth in a snarl, his breathing quickening and heart racing. Absently, he clenched his fists, _hard_, so much his knuckles turned white, his stance becoming tense, anger blooming inside him and taking over his reasoning.

_I can't find another way to solve it… But no, William can't, he _can't_ be lying! Why, why, why would he?! Oh, no…_ And suddenly, he felt a painful pang in his heart, the cold hand of realisation clutching it. William couldn't have certainly betrayed him; Albert wasn't willing to admit it. But what if it were true? It actually made sense; one of his explanations could've been a ruse to get away with the real answer… But why? What was that he hid?

Joanne was filled with dread as she noticed Albert's sudden change. It was as if an aura of rage surrounded him, giving away all of his feelings, at first unreadable. She tried calling him, but he didn't respond, too engrossed in his thoughts.

_BAM!_

Next thing Joanne knew, Albert had slammed his fist against the desk, signs of anger and frustration drawn in his always-composed features. At the startling sound, Joanne jumped with a choked gasp, her eyes shining with concern and fear.

"Albert, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice quivering. He didn't move from where he was; he'd closed his eyes. He knew his assumptions could be wrong, but the clues matched perfectly, like the pieces of a puzzle interlocking themselves: both virus strains on his project, Joanne's physical change, which was rather unusual coming from the supposedly T-virus, and also, there was a seemingly meaningless piece for him; still, he knew it'd fit. Albert knew and didn't know which one it was; it was just a hunch, it was something confusing, frustrating and horrible at the same time, judging from the feeling he had right that instant.

"No…" he whispered, "No… No…"

Joanne bit her lower lip, nervously stepping forward. The dreadful sensation in the pit of her stomach appeared again the same moment Albert's eyes locked with hers, his face a mask of disbelief, his eyes gleaming with the rage he felt inside… and his mind swearing his revenge. His rage made Joanne's colour almost drain from her face; his eyes were two endless voids filled with it. Joanne, frozen on the spot, couldn't believe the sight; Albert's rage was paralysing her, rendering her even unable to speak. Albert slowly ducked his head, unexplainably feeling all of his energies slipping away.

_Not another lie__… _

He suddenly realised how right he had been… how much it hurt. Now that he thought about it, he had received a taste of his own medicine, and it was so painful… More than the blow he had received now, it was the liar who made his heart ache; it was the first time Albert had been so surprised… a backstab.

And pain rushed through him, hand in hand with revenge.

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A/N: Yup, I'm starting to build up the whole situation with TriCell and there's a hint in this one on how might Irving come up in the next part. It's gonna be quite the twist, I'm telling you.

Please review, but no flames.


	25. Epilogue: Evil Shadows

**Author's Note:** Aww, we've reached the end... Really, I've had so much fun writing this one, and I'm glad you've stuck with me all along! I really appreciate it, and I can't thank you enough. Short epilogue, I know, and I've left another cliffhanger. No worries, more stories are coming up ;) Thank you so very much again and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters, only my OCs**

**Special thanks to Divine Arion and Hobohunter.**

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Epilogue

Evil Shadows

Right that night, Albert and Joanne departed for the airport, heading for a private heliport where his contact would be waiting. Fortunately, she had arrived punctually, the sound of the hot engines muting every other sound. Joanne saw that, in fact, it wasn't that much of a plane, but it would still be enough for them both and their small amount of baggage. As they neared the transport, she was tempted to look back, thinking about what she was leaving behind… absolutely nothing. She was just a ghost, the former Joanne Dawson declared missing and, soon, she'd be declared dead, officially making her inexistent, like a shadow without an identity.

Joanne looked at Albert. Under the moonlight, his eeriness was highlighted. Cold, emotionless, calm and composed; quite on the contrary as of a few hours ago. It was his constant state, a façade that would never drop, not even in the worst of circumstances. What worried her, however, was his earlier reaction towards some kind of realisation, to which she was oblivious. Just after the look they both shared, Albert had walked outside the room, forcing himself to be calm as Joanne could notice, and hadn't showed up till thirty minutes before meeting up with his contact. And it had been a good seven hours since then. Joanne had wanted to call him, but Albert had left all means of communication inside the house, really giving the hint he wanted to be alone. Joanne wouldn't insist; whatever he had found out, if it had been a hard blow for him, she didn't like to imagine how much it would be for her.

_Supposing it concerned me too, of course_, she thought. Joanne came back to reality as she climbed up the stairs to the insides of the aircraft, which she found strangely cosy. The compartment consisted of just six seats, displayed in pairs one in font of the other, all covered with brown leather. The floor covering, a light brown fitted carpet, and the bright lighting helped her feel at ease. _'Not much' was kind of an understatement, I guess._

"You know what our destination is, Heather," she heard Albert tell his contact. A muffled 'Yup' came as her response and, when they settled down, the plane took off, as if diving into the blue canopy of heaven. Everything was silent, Albert back again on his musing. As he made plans for the future, he too thought about William and all he would do to get the truth out of him. As strange as it seemed to him, somebody else came to his head, and Albert wondered if he could be related to the situation; if he was, he was _so_ going to make him pay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was nothing as bad and painful as the pangs of remorse William felt every single moment of the day. He could feel proud of how well things were going for them so far, but he hated himself for everything he was doing. William knew he was still being watched, somehow… by someone. Even as he looked to the river at his feet, leaning against the cold railing of the bridge, he couldn't shake off the gilt that clutched his heart. It was a strange feeling, to avoid looking at a mirror. William thought that it'd be as though the moment he saw his reflection, he wouldn't find himself in there, only another part of himself, to put it that way. The thing was he wasn't superstitious at all, but it was the only way he could describe his uneasiness.

Everything had to remain a secret, a secret that would surely cost him dear to keep. _I know what happened to him… and I lied. And I also know what happens to her. I know _everything _that's going on here, and I can't tell yet. I didn't have another choice, though; God knows what he could've done. Not only to Sherry but… what about Albert? What about if he came to know? I would just endanger us all. After all this is over, I hope I can tell him. He has the right to know about the truth. Oh, I wish nothing had happened…_

"Dad, are you coming?" William glanced at Sherry, who was waiting for him a few metres away, a big smile on her face. As a soft breeze blew, William stood still for a small while; then, surprisingly for him, he smiled genuinely to his daughter and was on his way again. Being with Sherry made him feel calm… and determined. After all, he had his reasons, convincing enough to make Albert and Joanne see why.

_Someday, you'll see… that__ is… if you don't realise sooner. And I'll be there to give you the answers._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert took the two disks from his jacket pocket and looked at them, holding them between his fingers. One was his, and the other was the one with Joanne's files. Thankfully, everything was going as well as he expected… excluding other things. For now, he would focus on the situations ahead; he would plan how to solve future problems, to avoid unexpected turns… because he simply wouldn't allow _anything_ to go wrong. He had the feeling he would acquire something from his deals with TriCell, and that was information and wealth to keep on with his objectives, to accomplish them and see his effort finally give its result. And now, he had Joanne by his side, whom he trusted. She had showed him where her loyalties lay, and it was with him. Joanne would make a perfect asset, one he wouldn't get rid of, unlike a lot of other times.

"You should get some rest," said Joanne, making him raise his head. There was a fine frown on her face, which gave away her concern… her deep concern.

Albert shook his head, "I'm fine. There's no need to worry." He replied. Albert caught the concern that lived within Joanne's eyes and smirked.

"I know what that smile means… already," she said with a sigh. Albert remained silent and looked away, the smirk still on his face. There were so many things to do, so many questions to solve and so many pieces to fit. His eyes fixed upon the sky outside, and thrill took over.

_Yeah, I'll get to tell you, Joanne. For now, those things… are better left unsaid._

Another thought invaded his mind. He remembered again how Spencer's accomplices had played with him, as if he were nothing more than a toy. How nice would it feel to see the matter through… and get his revenge, to end his miserable existence and rise above the world. '_An arrogant fool, that's what Spencer is. He won't get his hands on me again'… _Those had been his own thoughts, an oath of revenge. And Albert had that strange sensation again: he knew he would find him.

Albert smiled… and widely, _This ought to be fun._

Let the chase begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So Albert's still alive?" asked the brown-haired man. His companion, a much older one, nodded.

"Yes, and I have a special task for you." He replied, his voice hoarse. The brown-haired received his orders and, with a smile appearing on his face, he turned around and left the castle's grand library. He had also known of who Albert was with, his dear Joanne Dawson. _Well, that's not exactly her name, _he thought while chuckling darkly, _Ooh, once I see her again… once I see _them_ again, I have the feeling it's not going to be very pleasant for them._

Through the open door, the elderly man could hear him laugh evilly, and that made a smile flicker across his features.

Let the chase begin.

The End

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A/N: Aha! Who could be those two at the end? Not good, huh? You'll see who they are... eventually. And now, the prequels to this story are coming up and are currently being written! If you visit my profile, I will leave some information about how I'm going to proceed from now on. One little request: leave **honest** reviews about this whole piece. I'm not saying you have been lying xDD God forbid, but I want to hear your general opinons. Thank you so very much again!


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